TW201720969A - Adjustable insoluable anode plate for cu-pillar electroplating and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An exemplary embodiment describes an adjustable insoluble anode plate for Cu-pillar electroplating process, including: an anode plate, a power supply, and a controller; wherein the anode plate further including: a plate, made of an anti-acid/alkali material; a plurality of metal pillars, embedded in the plate with a specific arrangement, one end of each of the plurality of metal pillars being exposed at surface of the plate to contact an electroplating solution used in the electroplating process, and the other ends of the metal pillars being connected respectively to the power supply through a wire; the controller being connected to the power supply, to control the power supply the supply of electric current for each metal pillar.

Description

Adjustable insoluble anode plate and method thereof for copper pillar plating

The disclosure relates to a tunable insoluble anode plate, in particular to a copper pillar plating process and a method thereof.

The copper pillar bump technology is a technology that has been widely adopted in the three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) process in recent years, and has also emerged in various application fields. Since the copper pillars can be fabricated by electroplating; therefore, the copper pillar plating system becomes a common process application system in the 3D IC industry. Generally, in the process of the 3D IC industry, copper pillars are usually formed by electroplating on a germanium substrate having a pattern or on a printed circuit board (PCB). In the process of electroplating, the most important thing is to make the height of the copper column formed by electroplating uniform. Therefore, how to electroplatize the copper column with high uniformity is one of the most important performance indexes of electroplating technology.

In the conventional electroplated copper column technology, in order to carry out electroplating, the electric field in the solution can be evenly distributed, so that the height of the electroplated copper column can be averaged. Uniform, usually starting from the structure of the insoluble anode plate required for the electroplating process. Figure 1 shows a network structure insoluble anode plate widely used in the conventional industry. As shown in FIG. 1, the insoluble anode plate is a mesh structure formed by a plurality of conductive metal wires 101 cross-connected; wherein each of the conductive metal wires 101 is coated with a layer of ruthenium oxide (IrO2) when the current is self-contained. When the input terminal is input, each of the conductive metal wires 101 in the mesh structure is simultaneously energized, so that the electric field can be evenly distributed. However, because when the power is turned on, the entire mesh structure is energized, the current of different positions cannot be adjusted, and the area and pattern of the energized area cannot be changed; therefore, there are many limitations in practical applications, and different structural designs also respond. Born. For example, Figure 2 shows a ring-shaped structure insoluble anode plate widely used in the industry. As shown in FIG. 2, the insoluble anode plate is a concentric circle structure composed of a plurality of metal rings 201 having different radii and outer layers coated with ruthenium oxide; wherein each metal ring 201 can output different currents respectively.

The above two different anode plate structures are designed to make the electric field in the solution evenly distributed in order to make the height of the copper column after plating uniform; however, according to practical results, the uniformity is generally Not good. In the existing copper column electroplating equipment, the shape of the anode plate is fixed unless the design of the anode plate is replaced. Therefore, the conventional technique often uses an anode shutter to improve the uniformity of the height of the copper column, but In the process of the process, often because of the different patterns of the Si substrate or the PCB of the cathode, the pattern and the shielding range of the anode shutter are also changed, and the inconvenience and the efficiency of the mass production line are increased. Therefore, although the use of the anode shutter can indeed improve the uniformity of the situation Shape, but there are still limits. How to effectively solve this problem is really something that people in this field need to think about.

In view of this, the main object of the present disclosure is to provide a controllable insoluble anode plate which can be applied to a copper pillar plating process. The tunable insoluble anode plate is formed by arranging a plurality of insoluble metal columns into an array and passing through a programmable controller to respectively control the current switch of each metal column and the current output thereof. .

According to an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a tunable insoluble anode plate that can be applied to a copper pillar plating process, including: an anode plate, a power supply, and a controller; wherein the anode plate further includes: a pole a plate, the plate is made of an acid-resistant and alkaline material; a plurality of metal columns are embedded in the plate in an arrangement, and one end of each of the plurality of metal columns is exposed On the surface of the plate, one plating solution is used in contact with an electroplating process, and the other end surface is respectively connected to the power supply through a wire; the controller is connected to the power supply to control the power supply The current is supplied to each metal column.

Further, in the above embodiment, the controller is a programmable controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), or a programmable automation controller (programmable) Automation controller, PAC).

Further, in the above embodiment, the controller controls the supply current of the power supply to each of the metal columns including the control current magnitude, the power supply timing, or the length of the power supply time.

Further, in the above embodiment, the plurality of metal pillars may be arranged in an array manner, a circular manner, or any other manner.

Further, in the above embodiment, the plurality of metal columns may be in the form of a circular column, a square column, or a rectangular column.

Further, in the above embodiment, the surface of the plurality of metal pillars has a layer of conductive acid and alkali resistant film.

According to another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a copper pillar plating method using a controllable insoluble anode plate, comprising: providing an insoluble anode plate, the insoluble anode plate further comprising: a plate, the plate is made of an acid resistant Made of an alkaline material; a plurality of metal columns are embedded in the plate in an arrangement, and one end face of each of the plurality of metal columns is exposed on the surface of the plate, and the other The end surface is connected to a wire; the wires connected to each of the plurality of metal columns are respectively connected to a power supply; the power supply is connected to a controller; and, in the electroplating process, Controller controls this The power supply supplies current to each of the metal columns.

Further, in the above embodiment, the controller is a programmable controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), or a programmable automation controller (PAC).

Further, in the above embodiment, the controller controls the supply current of the power supply to each of the metal columns including the control current magnitude, the power supply timing, or the length of the power supply time.

Further, in the above embodiment, the plurality of metal pillars may be arranged in an array manner, a circular manner, or any other manner.

Further, in the above embodiment, the plurality of metal columns may be in the form of a circular column, a square column, or a rectangular column.

Further, in the above embodiment, the surface of the plurality of metal pillars has a layer of conductive acid and alkali resistant film.

The design and control method can not only change the power-on area and shape, but also change the output current at different positions, and directly control the area, shape and current of the anode plate when the anode plate is energized by the programmable logic controller. The process method allows the different positions of the insoluble anode plates to have a single point to be turned on/off or to output different current sizes, which can improve the inadequacy of the insoluble anode plates and the anode shutters which are widely used today. Since copper pillar plating is widely used in the industry of 3D ICs, it is an industrially important target technology to control the copper pillars after plating to have a high degree of uniformity.

101‧‧‧Network structure insoluble anode plate

201‧‧‧Circular structure insoluble anode plate

301‧‧‧Anode plate

3011‧‧‧ plates

3012‧‧‧Metal column

3013‧‧‧Wire

302‧‧‧Power supply

303‧‧‧ Controller

810‧‧‧ Provide an insoluble anode plate

820‧‧‧Connect the wires connected to the metal column to a power supply

830‧‧‧Connect the power supply to a controller

840‧‧‧When electroplating, the controller controls the power supply to supply current to each metal column

Figure 1 shows a network structure insoluble anode plate used in a conventional copper pillar plating process.

Figure 2 shows a ring-shaped structure insoluble anode plate used in a conventional copper column electroplating process.

3 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a tunable insoluble anode plate in accordance with the present disclosure.

4 to 7 show an example of an anode plate array in which 9×10 metal columns are arranged according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and how the energization pattern of the anode plate is changed when energized.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a copper pillar plating method using a controllable insoluble anode plate according to the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are readily understood by those skilled in the art. The creation can take a variety of changes The embodiments are not limited to these embodiments. The description of the well-known part is omitted in the present invention, and the same reference numerals denote the same elements in the present invention.

3 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a tunable insoluble anode plate in accordance with the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the tunable insoluble anode plate is suitable for a copper pillar plating process, comprising: an anode plate 301, a power supply 302, and a controller 303; wherein the power supply is connected to The anode plate 301 supplies current to the anode plate 301 during the electroplating process; the controller 303 is coupled to the power supply 302 and outputs a signal to the controller 303 to control and regulate the power supply in the electroplating process. 302 provides current to the anode plate 301.

In this embodiment, the anode plate 301 further includes: a plate 3011 made of an acid-resistant and alkaline material, such as high-density polyethylene, industrial rubber, and the like; The metal posts 3012 are embedded in the plate 3011 in an array, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. It should be noted that one end face of each of the plurality of metal posts 3012 is exposed on the surface of the plate 3011 to contact one of the plating solutions used in the electroplating process, and the other end face is respectively passed through a wire 3012. Connected to the power supply 302.

In this embodiment, the plurality of metal pillars 3012 may be arranged in an array manner, a circular manner, or any other manner. Similarly, the The plurality of metal posts 3012 may be in the form of a circular column, a square column, or a rectangular column. Further, the surface of the plurality of metal pillars 3012 has a layer of acid and alkali resistant film.

Further, the controller in this embodiment is a programmable controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), or a programmable automation controller (programmable automation controller, PAC) can be programmed to control the supply current of the power supply 302 to each of the metal posts 3011.

Moreover, in the embodiment, the controller controls the supply current of the power supply to each of the metal columns including the control current magnitude, the power supply timing, or the length of the power supply time.

In other words, the insoluble anode plate 301 is an array of a plurality of metal pillars 3012 whose surface is plated with an acid-base conductive film, and is fixed in the acid-resistant plate 3011, and the array is arranged by the wires 3013. Each of the metal pillars 3012 is respectively connected to the power supply 302, and the controller 303 is used to control the power supply, so that the current on/off of the single metal column and the output current of the current can be accurately adjusted, thereby adjusting and changing the electroplating process. The electric field area, shape or strength when the anode plate 301 is energized.

Since the disclosure can directly control the metal column to be output current Therefore, it is possible to change the current output pattern and size of the anode plate when energized for different application cathode patterns.

4 to FIG. 7 are schematic diagrams showing an example of an anode plate array in which 9×10 metal columns are arranged according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and how the energization pattern of the anode plate is changed when energized. Wherein, the metal columns are respectively numbered 1-90, and the solid point (●) indicates the current flow of the metal column, and the hollow point (o) indicates that the metal column has no current.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a programmable logic controller is used to control all currents of the metal posts numbered 1-90, it can be seen that the current pattern on the anode plate is rectangular. As shown in Figure 5, if the metal columns such as control numbers 22-24, 30-34, 38-44, 47-53, 56-62, 66-70, and 76-78 have current, but the remaining metal columns do not pass current. Then, the energized shape of the anode plate becomes a circular pattern. As shown in Figure 6, when the control number 4-6, 13-15, 22-24, 31-33, 37-45, 46-54, 58-60, 67-69, 76-78 and 85-87 When the column is energized and the remaining metal posts are not conducting current, the shape of the energized area of the anode plate will become a cross. As shown in Figure 7, if it is control number 1-4, 6-9, 10-13, 15-18, 19-22, 24-27, 28-31, 33-36, 55-58, 60-63, 64 -67,69-72,73-76,78-81,82-85,87-90, etc. The metal column has a current, and when the other metal column does not pass current, the anode plate has a current pattern, which will become four. A square pattern with a cross-shaped area in the middle of the non-energized area. It can be seen that the disclosure can precisely control whether each metal column is energized through the programming of the programmable logic controller, thereby changing the energization of the anode plate during plating. The purpose of the pattern and the energized area is to suit different application needs.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a copper pillar plating method using a controllable insoluble anode plate according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, step 810 provides an insoluble anode plate, and the insoluble anode plate further comprises: a plate made of an acid-resistant and alkaline material; and a plurality of metal columns arranged in an array. The method is embedded in the plate, and one end of each of the plurality of metal columns is exposed on the surface of the plate, and the other end is connected to a wire. The embodiment of the insoluble anode plate can be illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 3 and will not be repeated here.

Step 820 is to connect the wires connected to each of the plurality of metal columns to a power supply. In step 830, the power supply is connected to a controller. Finally, step 840 is in the electroplating process, and the controller controls the power supply to supply current to each of the metal columns.

In summary, the embodiment of the present disclosure uses a metal column array as an anode plate, and controls the current output of each metal column in the metal column array by PLC, so the controllability of the anode plate array is quite large. The control method is also quite convenient, and its applicability is also wider. For the position where the height uniformity of the copper column is poor, the current output of the single metal column can be directly controlled, and the improvement can be achieved. This will improve the existing mesh or annular anode plates and the disadvantages of using the anode shutters to control the height of the copper columns.

Furthermore, because it can directly use the program, the power supply is regulated by the PLC, and the on/off and current output of the conductive metal column at different positions can be directly changed, and the current output pattern of the anode plate can be directly changed without changing the anode. The pattern or the shielding range of the shutter can achieve the purpose of controlling the height uniformity of the copper column. It is obvious that the scope of application of the present invention is wider than the currently used control methods.

The illustrations and descriptions of the present invention are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present invention, and those who are familiar with the art are subject to the changes in the spirit of the present invention. Or the modifications should be covered by the following patent application in this case.

301‧‧‧Anode plate

3011‧‧‧ plates

3012‧‧‧Metal column

3013‧‧‧Wire

302‧‧‧Power supply

303‧‧‧ Controller

Claims (12)

A tunable insoluble anode plate for use in a copper pillar plating process, comprising: an anode plate, a power supply, and a controller; wherein the anode plate further comprises: a plate, the plate is made of a resistance The acid-alkaline material is formed; a plurality of metal columns are embedded in the plate in an arrangement, and one end face of each of the plurality of metal columns is exposed on the surface of the plate to contact An electroplating process uses one plating solution, and the other end surface is respectively connected to the power supply through a wire; the controller is connected to the power supply to control the supply current of the power supply to each metal column . The controllable insoluble anode plate according to claim 1, wherein the controller is a programmable controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), or a programmable automation controller. (programmable automation controller, PAC. The controllable insoluble anode plate of claim 1, wherein the controller controls the supply current of the power supply to each of the metal columns including a control current magnitude, a power supply timing, or a power supply time. The modulating insoluble anode plate of claim 1, wherein the plurality of metal columns are arranged in an array manner, a circular manner, or any other manner. The controllable insoluble anode plate of claim 1, wherein the plurality of metal columns can be in the form of a circular column, a square column, or a rectangular column. The controllable insoluble anode plate according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the plurality of metal columns has a layer of conductive acid and alkali resistant film. A copper pillar plating method using a controllable insoluble anode plate, comprising: providing an insoluble anode plate, the insoluble anode plate comprising: a plate made of an acid-resistant alkaline material; a plurality of metals The column is embedded in the plate in an arrangement manner, one end face of each of the plurality of metal columns is exposed on the surface of the plate, and the other end is connected with a wire; The wires connected to each of the metal posts of the metal column are respectively connected to a power supply; the power supply is connected to a controller; and in the electroplating process, the power supply is controlled by the controller for each The supply current of the metal column. The copper pillar plating method according to claim 7, wherein the controller is a programmable controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), or a programmable automation controller (programmable) Automation controller, PAC). A copper pillar plating method according to claim 7 of the patent application, wherein The controller controls the supply current of the power supply to each of the metal columns including the control current magnitude, the power supply timing, or the length of the power supply. The copper pillar plating method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of metal pillars are arranged in an array manner, a circular manner, or any other manner. The copper pillar plating method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of metal pillars may be in the form of a circular column, a square column, or a rectangular column. The copper pillar plating method according to claim 7, wherein the surface of the plurality of metal pillars has a conductive acid and alkali resistant film.