Plating apparatus, plating cup and cathode ring

Abstract

A plating apparatus (10) provided with: a plating vessel (61a to 61d) having a cylindrical side wall (361) for containing a plating liquid; a substrate holding mechanism (74a to 74d) for generally horizontally holding a generally round substrate (W) to be treated; a cathode ring (80) provided in the substrate holding mechanism and having substantially the same inner diameter as the plating vessel for sealing a peripheral edge portion of a lower surface of the substrate, the cathode ring having a cathode (83) to be brought into contact with the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism; and a rotative driving mechanism (45) for rotating the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism together with the cathode ring; wherein the plating vessel has an upper edge portion complementary in configuration to a portion of the cathode ring opposed to the plating vessel so that the lower surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism can approach the plating vessel so as to be substantially flush with the upper edge of the plating vessel without interference between the upper edge portion of the plating vessel and the cathode ring.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a plating apparatus for plating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer with copper. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] In the production of a semiconductor device, a plating process is often performed for plating one surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to simply as “wafer”). Plating apparatuses for the plating of the wafer are required to perform complicated process steps and to provide a high-quality metal film (for example, having a highly uniform thickness) by the plating. Since the semiconductor wafer is formed with fine holes and grooves, it is necessary to fill the fine holes and grooves with copper by the plating. [0005] An exemplary plating apparatus for the copper plating of the semiconductor wafer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,433 B1. [0006] However, none of the conventional plating apparatuses are satisfactory in the quality of a film f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus which is capable of properly performing a plating process.

[0008] It is another object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus which features easier operation.

[0009] It is further another object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus which features higher productivity.

Problems solved by technology

However, none of the conventional plating apparatuses are satisfactory in the quality of a film formed by the plating, operability, productivity and the like.

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