Plating system, a plating system control method, and a storage medium containing a program for causing a computer to execute the plating system control method

US11098414B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-11098414-B2
Application numberUS-201916664599-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateOct 25, 2019
Priority dateAug 8, 2016
Publication dateAug 24, 2021
Grant dateAug 24, 2021

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  1. Title

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  2. Abstract

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  3. Assignees and inventors

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  4. Key dates

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  5. First independent claim

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  6. CPC / IPC classifications

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  7. Citations and related patents

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Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A plating system comprising a plating tank for applying plate processing to a substrate, a sensor configured to measure actual plating film thickness of the substrate, and a controller configured to control plating current supplied to the plating tank and plating time for the plate processing of the substrate within the plating tank. The controller is capable of setting target plating film thickness, plating current, and plating time as a plate processing recipe. At least one of the plating current and the plating time is automatically corrected so that the actual plating film thickness and the target plating film thickness become equal to each other, and the result is reflected in the plate processing for the subsequent substrate.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A non-transitory storage medium containing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling a plating system, the plating system comprising a plating tank for applying plate processing to a substrate, a sensor configured to measure actual plating film thickness of the substrate, and a controller configured to control plating current and plating time for the plate processing of the substrate within the plating tank, the program executing the steps of: setting target plating film thickness, plating current, and plating time as a plate processing recipe, and automatically correcting at least one of the plating current and the plating time in accordance with the actual plating film thickness and the target plating film thickness so that the actual plating film thickness and the target plating film thickness become equal to each other, and reflecting at least one of the corrected plating current and the corrected plating time in the plate processing for the subsequent substrate, wherein the program corrects the plating current without correcting the plating time when plating current density corresponding to the corrected plating current is between first current density and second current density, inclusive; and wherein when the plating current density is lower than the first current density or higher than the second current density, the program corrects the plating current to correct first film thickness difference of measured film thickness difference between the target plating film thickness and the actual plating film thickness, and corrects the plating time to correct second film thickness difference that is difference between the measured film thickness difference and the first film thickness difference. 2. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the first film thickness difference is a film thickness correction amount that is corrected by the first current density or the second current density of the plating current density; and wherein the second film thickness difference is difference between the film thickness correction amount corrected by the first current density or the second current density and the measured film thickness difference. 3. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 2 , wherein the program calculates a correction amount of the plating current on the basis of the actual plating film thickness; wherein when the correction amount of the plating current is equal to or higher than a first current correction amount corresponding to the first current density and equal to or lower than a second current correction amount corresponding to the second current density, the program calculates the corrected plating current from the correction amount of the plating current; and wherein when the correction amount of the plating current is lower than the first current correction amount or higher than the second current correction amount, the program sets the correction amount of the plating current to the first current correction amount or the second current correction amount, and calculates the correction amount of the plating time so as to further correct the difference between the film thickness correction amount corresponding to the first current correction amount or the second current correction amount and the measured film thickness difference. 4. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the program corrects the plating current without correcting the plating time. 5. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the program corrects the plating time without correcting the plating current. 6. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the program applies statistical processing to the actual plating film thickness of the plurality of substrates, the target plating film thickness, and theoretical plating time for obtaining the target plating film thickness; and when the number of data acquired by the statistical processing exceeds a predetermined value, the program corrects at least one of the plating current and the plating time by using the data acquired by the statistical processing. 7. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the plating tank includes a plurality of plating cells; and wherein the program measures the actual plating film thickness of the substrate subjected to the plate processing in each of the plating cells, and the program corrects at least one of the plating current and the plating time with respect to each of the plating cells in accordance with the actual plating film thickness. 8. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein there is further provided in the plating system an aligner configured to align the substrate; and wherein the sensor is disposed in the aligner. 9. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein there is provided in the plating system a substrate attachment/detachment section for attaching the substrate to a substrate holder; wherein the sensor is disposed in the substrate attachment/detachment section. 10. A non-transitory storage medium containing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling a plating system, the plating system comprising a plating tank for applying plate processing to a substrate, a sensor configured to measure actual plating film thickness of the substrate, and a controller configured to control plating current and plating time for the plate processing of the substrate within the plating tank, the program executing the steps of: setting target plating film thickness, plating current, and plating time as a plate processing recipe, and automatically correcting at least one of the plating current and the plating time in accordance with the actual plating film thickness and the target plating film thickness so that the actual plating film thickness and the target plating film thickness become equal to each other, and reflecting at least one of the corrected plating current and the corrected plating time in the plate processing for the subsequent substrate, wherein the program is configured to be set so that the plate processing is carried out on the substrate in a plurality of steps, have or obtain the plating current and the plating time, which are set with respect to each step, as the recipe, and correct the plating current and/or the plating time in each step, wherein when the plating current is corrected, the correction amount of the plating current is corrected by adding the correction amount to a value of the plating current; and the correction amount is set to a value common to the steps, and wherein the program is further capable of setting an aperture ratio that is a fraction obtained by dividing actual plating area by area of the substrate, or the actual plating area, as a preset recipe item; and wherein by using the following Expressions 1 and 2, T R = a + bT T + c ⁢ ⁢ γ ρ

Assignees

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Classifications

  • characterised by the filling method or the material of the conductive fill · CPC title

  • Apparatus for manufacturing bump connectors · CPC title

  • by plating, e.g. electroless plating or electroplating · CPC title

  • the interconnections being through-semiconductor vias · CPC title

  • by forming conductive members before forming protective insulating material · CPC title

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What does patent US11098414B2 cover?
A plating system comprising a plating tank for applying plate processing to a substrate, a sensor configured to measure actual plating film thickness of the substrate, and a controller configured to control plating current supplied to the plating tank and plating time for the plate processing of the substrate within the plating tank. The controller is capable of setting target plating film thic…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Ebara Corp
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification C25D17/001. Mapped technology areas include Chemistry & Metallurgy.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Aug 24 2021 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).