Plate, apparatus for plating, and method of manufacturing plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12359338-B2
Application number	US-202017612098-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2020
Priority date	Nov 16, 2020
Publication date	Jul 15, 2025
Grant date	Jul 15, 2025

Abstract

An object is to enhance the accuracy of porosity and/or the flexibility in adjustment of the porosity in each portion of a plate. There is provided a plate that is placed between a substrate and an anode in a plating tank. The plate comprises a pore forming area in which a plurality of pores are formed, wherein the pore forming area includes a center portion, a middle portion located on an outer side of the center portion, and an outer circumferential portion located on an outer side of the middle portion, the center portion and the outer circumferential portion of the pore forming area have a plurality of oblong pores, and the middle portion of the pore forming area has a plurality of circular pores.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A plate that is placed between a substrate and an anode in a plating tank,
the plate comprising a pore forming area in which a plurality of pores are formed, wherein
the pore forming area includes a center portion, a middle portion located on an outer side of the center portion, and an outer circumferential portion located on an outer side of the middle portion,
the center portion and the outer circumferential portion of the pore forming area have a plurality of oblong pores, and
the middle portion of the pore forming area has a plurality of circular pores.

2. The plate according to claim 1 ,
wherein part or all of the plurality of pores are formed on circumferences of a plurality of circles that are concentrical, and
pores on one or multiple adjacent circumferences including an innermost circumference are oblong pores, and/or, pores on one or multiple adjacent circumferences including an outermost circumference are oblong pores.

3. The plate according to claim 1 ,
wherein a porosity that is a distribution density of pores in the outer circumferential portion is different from porosities in the other portions.

4. A plate that is placed between a substrate and an anode in a plating tank,
the plate comprising a pore forming area in which a plurality of pores are formed, wherein
a porosity that is a distribution density of pores in an outer circumferential portion of the pore forming area is different from a porosity in the other portion of the pore forming area, and the outer circumferential portion has oblong pores.

5. The plate according to claim 4 ,
wherein a middle portion located on an inner side of the outer circumferential portion has a plurality of circular pores, and a center portion located on an inner side of the middle portion has a plurality of oblong pores.

6. The plate according to claim 4 ,
wherein the center portion and the middle portion have identical porosities.

7. The plate according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oblong pore has a longitudinal direction along a circumference and includes semicircular portions at respective ends thereof and an annular portion between the semicircular portions.

8. An apparatus for plating, comprising:
the plate according to claim 1 ; and
a plating tank in which the plate is placed.

9. The apparatus for plating according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a paddle that is placed between the substrate and the plate.

10. A method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 1 , the method comprising:
determining an area radius that is a diameter of an area where the plurality of pores are formed in the plate, a pore diameter of the plurality of pores, and a target porosity in the area in the area radius;
dividing the area into a plurality of divisional areas, which include a circular divisional area including a center of the area and annular divisional areas wherein the center portion comprises the circular divisional area and zero or more annular divisional areas and wherein the middle portion and the outer circumferential portion each comprise one or more of the annular divisional areas not included in the center portion, the annular divisional areas having a fixed width that is identical with a width of the circular divisional area, based on the area radius, the pore diameter and the target porosity; and
forming the plurality of pores on reference circles that are respectively placed in the plurality of divisional areas in the plate, wherein
oblong pores are formed on the reference circle in multiple divisional areas among the plurality of divisional areas.

11. The method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 10 , the method comprising:
a step of determining a number of pores in each divisional area by dividing a target total pore area, which is determined from an area of the divisional area and the target porosity, by an area of the pore corresponding to the pore diameter and by processing a result of division to an integral number;
a step of determining whether an error between a total pore area calculated from the processed integral number of pores and the target total pore area is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, with regard to each divisional area, and increasing the number of pores and decreasing the pore diameter when the error is equal to or greater than the predetermined value; and
a step of, when an inter-pore space in a divisional area becomes less than a machinable minimum inter-pore space of the pores as a result of changing the number of pores and the pore diameter, elongating the pores in the divisional area to oblong pores.

12. The method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 10 , the method comprising:
a step of changing the target porosity in at least part of the divisional areas and changing the pore diameter to achieve the changed target porosity; and
a step of, when an inter-pore space in the divisional area becomes less than a machinable minimum inter-pore space of the pores as a result of changing the pore diameter, elongating the pores in the divisional area to oblong pores.

13. The method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 10 ,
wherein the inter-pore space includes an inter-pore space in a circumferential direction determined as a difference between the pore diameter and a result of division of a circumferential length of the reference circle by the number of pores, and an inter-pore space in a radial direction determined from a difference between radii of reference circles in adjacent divisional areas and the pore diameter, and
when at least one of the inter-pore space in the circumferential direction and the inter-pore space in the radial direction is less than the minimum inter-pore space in each divisional area, the pores in the divisional area are elongated to oblong pores.

14. The method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 10 ,
wherein the oblong pore includes semicircular portions at respective ends thereof and an annular portion between the semicircular portions, and
the oblong pores are formed by controlling a circumferential length of the reference circle between centers of the semicircular portions at the respective ends or a size of a center angle.

15. The method of manufacturing the plate according to claim 10 ,
wherein the oblong pore is formed by milling, and an area of the oblong pore is controlled by regulating a length of a trajectory of end milling.

Assignees

• Ebara Corp

Inventors

• Masuda Yasuyuki
• Hiwatashi Ryosuke
• Shimoyama Masashi

Classifications

• C25D21/10

  Agitating of electrolytes; Moving of racks · CPC title

• C25D7/12 Primary

  Semiconductors · CPC title

• C25D17/001 Primary

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

• B26F1/02

  Perforating by punching, e.g. with relatively-reciprocating punch and bed · CPC title

• C25D17/008 Primary

  Current shielding devices · CPC title