Cleaning electroplating substrate holders using reverse current deplating

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 11542630
APP PUB NO 20200115816A1
SERIAL NO

16715501

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Importance

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Abstract

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Provided are cleaning methods and systems to remove unintended metallic deposits from electroplating apparatuses using reverse current deplating techniques. Such cleaning involves positioning a cleaning (deplating) disk in an electroplating cup similar to a regular processed substrate. The front surface of the cleaning disk includes a corrosion resistant conductive material to form electrical connections to deposits on the cup's surfaces. The disk is sealed in the cup and submerged into a plating solution. A reverse current is then applied to the front conductive surface of the disk to initiate deplating of the deposits. Sealing compression in the cup may change during cleaning to cause different deformation of the lip seal and to form new electrical connections to the deposits. The proposed cleaning may be applied to remove deposits formed during electroplating of alloys, in particular, tin-silver alloys widely used for semiconductor and wafer level packaging.

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddress
NOVELLUS SYSTEMS INCFREMONT CA

International Classification(s)

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Chua, Lee Peng Beaverton, US 35 338
Kumar, Santosh Beaverton, US 104 1143
Mayer, Steven T Aurora, US 217 7299
Ponnuswamy, Thomas A Sherwood, US 26 425

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