Electroplating and post-electrofill systems with integrated process edge imaging and metrology systems

An electroplating system for forming a layer of metal on a substantially circular wafer having a side edge, the system comprising:

• an electroplating module comprising:
• a cell for containing an anode and an electroplating solution during electroplating;
• and
• a wafer holder for holding the wafer in the electroplating solution and rotating the wafer during electroplating;
• an edge bevel removal module, the edge bevel removal module comprising:
• a wafer holder for holding and rotating the wafer;
• and
• a device for delivering etchant to an edge bevel region of the wafer while the wafer is held and rotated on the wafer holder of the edge bevel removal module to remove electroplated metal from the edge bevel region after electroplating in the electroplating module;
• and
• a wafer edge imaging system comprising:
• a wafer holder for holding and rotating the wafer through different azimuthal orientations;
• a camera oriented for obtaining multiple azimuthally separated images of a process edge of the wafer while the wafer is held and rotated through different azimuthal orientations on the wafer holder of the imaging system, the process edge corresponding to the outer edge of the layer of metal formed on the wafer, wherein the camera is a color camera and each image generated by the color camera is represented as an array of pixels, each pixel comprising at least three color values;
• and
• image analysis logic for determining an edge exclusion distance from the multiple azimuthally separated images, wherein the edge exclusion distance is a distance between the wafer's side edge and the process edge, wherein the image analysis logic further comprises EBR detection logic for determining from the multiple azimuthally separated images whether or not edge bevel removal (EBR) has been performed on the wafer by the edge bevel removal module;
• and
• fault identification and reporting logic for reporting an error to an operator of the electroplating system when the image analysis logic determines that EBR has not been performed.