JP2935649B2 - Stirring method of electroplating equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for stirring an electroplating apparatus for electroplating a semiconductor wafer in a plating solution.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such electroplating, a plating solution is agitated in order to keep a plating film thickness of a semiconductor wafer constant.

[0003] The semiconductor wafer 1 is, as shown in FIG.
It is stored in the plating jig 2 inside the plating tank T (FIG. 9),
The packing 3 and the packing presser 4 fix the periphery to the plating jig 2 by pressing.

[0004] Conventional stirring is performed by using a stirring rod 5 near the wafer 1.
And stirring the plating solution L by moving the stirring rod 5 parallel to the wafer 1 in the plating tank T as shown by an arrow in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a method has been adopted in which the plating solution L is circulated by a circulation pump (not shown) as indicated by an arrow, and agitated by a jet 7 from a bottom nozzle 6.

[0006]

In the conventional stirring method,
Although there was no uneven stirring in the horizontal direction of the plating solution L, it was difficult to eliminate the uneven stirring in the depth direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of stirring an electroplating apparatus which can eliminate stirring unevenness in a depth direction of a plating solution.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in an electroplating apparatus for electroplating a semiconductor wafer in a plating solution, a plating solution in the vicinity of the semiconductor wafer is stirred by a stirring member having a large number of elastic wires. It is characterized by stirring.

Further, according to the present invention, the stirring member is moved parallel to the plating surface of the semiconductor wafer.

Further, according to the present invention, the planting density of a large number of elastic strands of the vertically arranged stirring member is set to be larger toward the lower side.

[0011]

In the stirring method of the electroplating apparatus configured as described above, the plating solution can be uniformly stirred in the depth direction by the movement of the large number of elastic wires.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In these drawings, portions corresponding to FIGS. 8 and 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a stirring member for carrying out the present invention. The stirring member 10 is used for the wafer 1
Is vertically arranged in the vicinity of. This stirring member 10
Brush holder 11 and wafer 1 of brush holder 11
The brush bristles 12 are a large number of elastic members planted on the sides. The brush implantation density of the brush bristles 12 is small in the upper part and large in the lower part.

Next, the mode of stirring will be described.

In FIG. 4, a stirring member 1 is provided in a plating tank T.
0 is vertically disposed facing the wafer 1 and the stirring member 1
0 is reciprocated in the range W in parallel with the wafer 1 by means not shown. As a result, the plating solution L is suitably stirred, and the brush bristles 12 are stably agitated in the depth direction since the bristle density is higher at the lower side. Therefore, the flow of the plating solution L, which greatly affects the plating film thickness, is controlled, and a uniform plating film thickness can be obtained. Even if the brush bristles 12 come into contact with the wafer 1, the damage is small.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the stirring member. The stirring member 10A includes a horizontally arranged brush holder 11A and a large number of brush bristles 12 implanted at a uniform density on the wafer 1 side of the brush holder 11A.
A. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the stirring member 10A is reciprocated up and down in the range H, so that the stirring unevenness in the depth direction can be eliminated.

[0017]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to eliminate the uneven stirring in the depth direction and control the flow of the plating solution to obtain a uniform plating film thickness.
In addition, the density of the brush bristles can be arbitrarily selected to control the unevenness in stirring in the depth direction. Further, the brush bristles are effective even if they come into contact with the plating surface, because they have little damage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a stirring member for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the inside of a plating tank for explaining one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing another example of the stirring member for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the inside of a plating tank for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an example of a conventional stirring member.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the inside of a plating tank for explaining an example of a conventional stirring method.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the inside of a plating tank for explaining another example of the conventional stirring method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 L: Plating solution T: Plating tank 1: Semiconductor wafer 2: Plating jig 3: Packing 4: Packing presser 5: Stir bar 6: Bottom nozzle 7 ..Jet 10, 10A: stirring member 11, 11A: brush holder 12, 12A: brush bristles

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electroplating apparatus for electroplating a semiconductor wafer in a plating solution, wherein the plating solution in the vicinity of the semiconductor wafer is stirred by a stirring member provided with a number of elastic wires. Stirring method. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stirring member is moved in parallel with the plating surface of the semiconductor wafer. 3. The stirring method for an electroplating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the planting density of a large number of elastic wires of the vertically arranged stirring member is increased downward.