Integrated elastomeric lipseal and cup bottom for reducing wafer sticking

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10982346-B2
Application number	US-201816053546-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2018
Priority date	Jul 9, 2015
Publication date	Apr 20, 2021
Grant date	Apr 20, 2021

Abstract

Disclosed are electroplating cups for holding, sealing, and providing electrical power to wafers during electroplating, where the electroplating cup can include a cup bottom, an elastomeric lipseal, and an electrical contact element. The cup bottom can include a radially inwardly protruding surface with a plurality of through-holes. The elastomeric lipseal can directly adhere to the radially inwardly protruding surface of the cup bottom, fill the plurality of through-holes, and encircle an inner edge of the cup bottom. In some implementations, this can mitigate the effects of wafer sticking. In some implementations, the cup bottom may be treated to promote adhesion between the elastomeric lipseal and the radially inwardly protruding surface of the cup bottom.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lipseal comprising:
a plurality of pillars of elastomeric material passing through a plurality of through-holes of a radially inwardly protruding moment arm of a cup bottom; and
an interlocking portion of the elastomeric material surrounding an inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm, wherein the interlocking portion connects with the plurality of pillars of the elastomeric material to encircle the inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm.

2. The lipseal of claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric material is disposed along a surface of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm of the cup bottom.

3. The lipseal of claim 1 , wherein the interlocking portion and the plurality of pillars are connected to encircle the inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm to provide mechanical interlocking of the elastomeric material with the cup bottom.

4. The lipseal of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pillars has a diameter between about 0.01 inches and about 0.05 inches.

5. The lipseal of claim 1 , further comprising:
a protruding portion of the elastomeric material that protrudes vertically from the inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm.

6. The lipseal of claim 1 , wherein a distance between an inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm and a center of the through-hole is between about 0.05 inches and 0.5 inches.

7. A ring-shaped cup bottom of an electroplating cup assembly, the ring-shaped cup bottom comprising:
a main body portion; and
a radially inwardly protruding moment arm connected to the main body portion, wherein the radially inwardly protruding moment arm comprises a plurality of through-holes.

8. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of through-holes are configured to receive portions of an elastomeric lipseal passing therethrough.

9. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 8 , wherein the radially inwardly protruding moment arm comprises an inner edge, wherein the inner edge is configured to receive the portions of the elastomeric lipseal passing through the plurality of through-holes so that the portions of the elastomeric lipseal surround the inner edge.

10. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 9 , wherein the elastomeric lipseal is mechanically interlocked with the inner edge of the radially inwardly protruding moment arm.

11. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 9 , wherein a distance between the inner edge and a center of the through-holes is between about 0.05 inches and about 0.5 inches.

12. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 7 , wherein the cup bottom comprises a polymeric material.

13. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 12 , wherein the polymeric material is PPS.

14. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 7 , wherein each of the through-holes has a diameter between about 0.01 inches and about 0.05 inches.

15. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 7 , wherein the radially inwardly protruding moment arm of the cup bottom comprises between about 100 through-holes and about 500 through-holes.

16. The ring-shaped cup bottom of claim 7 , wherein the radially inwardly protruding moment arm is configured to support an elastomeric lipseal.

Assignees

• Lam Res Corp

Inventors

• Berke Aaron
• Rash Robert
• Mayer Steven T
• Kumar Santosh
• Chua Lee Peng

Classifications

• H10P72/7611

  characterised by edge profile or support profile · CPC title

• H10P72/0441

  Apparatus for sealing, encapsulating, glassing, decapsulating or the like · CPC title

• C25D17/001 Primary

  Apparatus specially adapted for electrolytic coating of wafers, e.g. semiconductors or solar cells · CPC title

• C25D7/123

  Semiconductors first coated with a seed layer or a conductive layer · CPC title

• C25D17/06 Primary

  Suspending or supporting devices for articles to be coated · CPC title