Electrostatic elimination device and method for electroplating equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a static elimination device and method for electroplating equipment. The static electricity elimination device of the electroplating equipment comprises a paddle installation part which is provided with a part located in an electroplating cavity of the electroplating equipment and is used for installing a paddle; one end of the conductive part is connected with the paddle mounting part, and the other end of the conductive part is grounded; and the control piece is configured to determine the target state of the electroplating equipment according to the state parameters in the electroplating cavity and control the conductive piece to be connected with the ground in the target state. According to the static electricity elimination device and method of the electroplating equipment, static electricity gathered in the electroplating cavity can be eliminated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuit production and processing, and in particular relates to a static elimination device and method for electroplating equipment. Background Art

[0002] In the process of semiconductor manufacturing, a very critical link is the electroplating process on semiconductor materials. Taking copper electroplating as an example, one of the main challenges of the copper electroplating process is that when copper is plated on bumps at a high plating rate, mass transfer limitations will be encountered, resulting in a reduced deposition rate and an uneven bump top profile. The newly developed high-speed electroplating technology can solve the mass transfer problem, obtain a better bump top profile, and improve height uniformity while maintaining high production capacity.

[0003] like Figure 1 As shown, at the beginning of the design of the high-speed copper electroplating device, the blade driver 300' and the graphite electrode 500' on the cathode chuck 400' are connected to the frame of the electroplating equipment, and then grounded through the frame. When the power is turned on during the electroplating process, some electrons will be conducted to the blade bracket 101', so that the blade bracket 101' is plated with metal copper. At the same time, the current passes through the metal blade bracket 101', causing the actual current output of the electroplating power supply to be less than the set current output, which ultimately affects the electroplating height of the product.

[0004] The paddle 105' of the high-speed copper electroplating device is in a state of constant vibration during the process operation. During the high-speed movement of the paddle 105', it constantly rubs against the electroplating solution and accumulates static electricity on the surface of the paddle 105'. The static electricity cannot be released in time and accumulates in the electroplating chamber 200'. If the static electricity is released on the wafer during electroplating, the feature pattern after photolithography will be destroyed, resulting in product defects of the wafer and reducing the wafer yield. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to prevent static electricity from easily accumulating in the plating chamber of the high-speed electroplating equipment during the process, causing damage to the characteristic pattern on the wafer surface and a decrease in wafer yield, the present invention proposes a static electricity elimination method and static electricity elimination device for electroplating equipment.

[0006] The present invention proposes an electrostatic elimination device for an electroplating equipment, comprising: a blade mounting member, having a portion located in an electroplating chamber of the electroplating equipment, for mounting a blade; a conductive member, one end of which is connected to the blade mounting member, and the other end is grounded; and a control member, configured to determine a target state of the electroplating equipment based on state parameters inside the electroplating chamber, and to control the conductive member to be connected to the ground in the target state.

[0007] The present invention also provides an electroplating device, comprising the static elimination device as described above.

[0008] The present invention also proposes a method for eliminating static electricity for electroplating equipment, comprising the following steps: installing a blade in an electroplating chamber of the electroplating equipment through a blade mounting member; connecting one end of a conductive member to the blade mounting member and the other end to the ground; determining a target state of the electroplating equipment according to state parameters inside the electroplating chamber through a control member, and controlling the conductive member to be connected to the ground within the target state and disconnected from the ground outside the target state.

[0009] The static elimination device and static elimination method of the electroplating equipment of the present invention determine the target state of the electroplating equipment according to the state parameters inside the electroplating chamber through the control part, and control the conductive part to be connected to the ground in the target state, thereby eliminating the static electricity accumulated in the electroplating chamber. Therefore, the present invention can improve the phenomenon that the characteristic pattern on the surface of the wafer is damaged due to static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, and the wafer yield is reduced.

[0010] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in the following description, and partly become apparent from the description, or understood by practicing the present invention. The purpose and other advantages of the present invention can be realized and obtained by the structures pointed out in the description, claims and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0012] Figure 1 The basic structural schematic diagram of electroplating equipment in the prior art is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a static elimination device for electroplating equipment in an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0014] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing a flow chart of a control component controlling a conductive component to be disconnected from or connected to the ground in an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0015] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a control component controlling a conductive component to be disconnected from or connected to the ground in another embodiment is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0017] In the actual process of high-speed electroplating equipment, static electricity will continue to accumulate on the surface of the blades due to the continuous friction between the high-speed oscillating blades and the plating solution. The accumulated static electricity cannot be released in time and accumulates in the electroplating chamber. If static electricity is released on the wafer during electroplating, the feature pattern after photolithography will be destroyed, resulting in product defects of the wafer, which in turn leads to a decrease in wafer yield. The researchers studied the problems encountered in the actual process and proposed an electrostatic elimination device for electroplating equipment.

[0018] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the static elimination device of the electroplating equipment in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the static elimination device includes a blade mounting component 101, a conductive component 102 and a control component 103.

[0019] The blade mounting member 101 is mounted on the electroplating chamber 200. The blade 105 is horizontally mounted on the portion of the blade mounting member 101 located in the electroplating chamber 200 of the electroplating equipment. The blade mounting member 101 is made of a metal material that can conduct electricity. For example, titanium metal is used as the material for preparing the blade mounting member 101. Selecting a metal material to prepare the blade mounting member 101 not only ensures the strength of the moving parts, but also facilitates the conduction and release of static electricity accumulated in the electroplating chamber 200.

[0020] One end of the conductive member 102 is connected to the blade mounting member 101, and the other end is grounded. In actual use, the conductive member 102 is a component that can conduct the current on the blade mounting member 101 from the electroplating device to the electroplating device. In the embodiment of the present invention, the conductive member 102 may include but is not limited to a wire.

[0021] The control element 103 is configured to determine a target state of the electroplating equipment according to state parameters inside the electroplating chamber 200 , and control the conductive element 102 to be connected to the ground in the target state.

[0022] Furthermore, the control element 103 includes a detection unit and a control unit. The detection unit is configured to detect state parameters; the control unit is configured to control the conductive element 102 to be connected to or disconnected from the ground according to the state parameters of the detection unit. Among them, the state parameters include: the working state of the electroplating chamber. The working state of the electroplating chamber includes: working state, standby state, and engineering state. The working state means that there is a wafer in the electroplating chamber of the electroplating equipment and it is in the electroplating process; the standby state means that the electroplating chamber of the electroplating equipment has not yet performed the electroplating process on the wafer, but it is already in standby mode and can perform the electroplating process on the wafer at any time; the engineering mode means that the electroplating equipment is in a maintenance state, and it is not ready to perform the electroplating process on the wafer, and there is no electroplating process in progress. The state in which electrostatic discharge is required is the standby state. The electroplating chamber in the working state and the engineering state cannot and does not need to be electrostatically discharged. When the detection unit detects that the working state of the electroplating chamber is the standby state, the control unit keeps the conductive element 102 connected to the ground.

[0023] In another embodiment, the state parameter also includes the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber. When the measuring unit detects that the working state of the electroplating chamber is the standby state, the electrostatic detection is further performed on the inside of the electroplating chamber. The electrostatic detection results inside the electroplating chamber include 0 and non-0; when there is no static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is 0; when there is static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-0; when the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-0, the electroplating equipment is in the target state. For the electroplating equipment in the target state, the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground, and conducts the static electricity accumulated inside the electroplating chamber to the outside of the electroplating chamber for release.

[0024] Specifically, in the actual process, when the control component 103 determines whether to control the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground, it can first choose to detect the working state of the current electroplating chamber. When the working state of the electroplating chamber is in the working state and the engineering state, the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be disconnected from the ground. Only when the state of the electroplating chamber is in the standby state, it is selected to perform electrostatic detection inside the electroplating chamber, and further determine whether to control the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground based on the result of the electrostatic detection. When the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is 0, that is, there is no static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber; the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be disconnected from the ground; when the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is not 0, that is, there is static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground. To summarize, in this embodiment, when judging the state of the plating chamber, the plating equipment is in the target state only when the working state of the plating chamber in the state parameter is the standby state and the electrostatic detection result inside the plating chamber is non-zero. For the plating equipment in the target state, the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground, and conducts the static electricity in the plating chamber to the outside of the plating chamber until the static electricity is completely released.

[0025] Furthermore, in order to prevent the blade mounting member 101 from being plated with metal copper, the present invention provides an insulating member 104 between the blade mounting member 101 and the driving mechanism that drives the blade 105 to move.

[0026] In another embodiment of the present invention, an electroplating device is provided, comprising the above-mentioned static elimination device.

[0027] An embodiment of the present invention also proposes a static electricity elimination method for electroplating equipment, in which a blade 105 is installed in an electroplating chamber 200 of the electroplating equipment through a blade mounting member 101, one end of a conductive member 102 is connected to the blade mounting member 101, and the other end is grounded, and a target state of the electroplating equipment is determined according to state parameters inside the electroplating chamber 200 through a control member 103, and the conductive member 102 is controlled to be connected to the ground within the target state and disconnected from the ground outside the target state.

[0028] Specifically, the control element 103 is used to control the conductive element 102 to be connected to the ground in the target state and disconnected from the ground outside the target state. Figure 3 , Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a flow chart of the control element 103 controlling the conductive element 102 to be disconnected from the ground or connected to the ground in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the static elimination methods for electroplating equipment include:

[0029] Detecting the working state of the electroplating chamber 200, the working state of the electroplating chamber 200 includes a working state, a standby state, and a project state;

[0030] Determine whether the electroplating chamber 200 is in a standby state;

[0031] If the electroplating chamber 200 is in the standby state, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is in the target state, and the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground, performs an electrostatic discharge operation on the electroplating chamber, and conducts the static electricity from the electroplating chamber to the outside of the electroplating chamber 200;

[0032] If the electroplating chamber 200 is in a working state or a project state, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is out of the target state, and the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be disconnected from the ground, and there is no need to perform an electrostatic discharge operation on the paddle 105 .

[0033] In another embodiment, the control element 103 is used to control the conductive element 102 to be connected to the ground in the target state and disconnected from the ground outside the target state. Figure 4 , Figure 4 FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow chart of another embodiment of a control component controlling a conductive component to be disconnected from or connected to the ground. Figure 4 As shown, the static elimination method of the electroplating equipment includes: firstly detecting the working state of the electroplating chamber to determine whether the electroplating chamber is in a standby state; if the working state of the electroplating chamber is the standby state, then further performing static detection on the inside of the electroplating chamber, and judging whether there is static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber according to the result of the static detection; if the result of the static detection is not 0, then it is judged that there is static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber and it is in a target state, and the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be connected to the ground, and performs static electricity release operation on the electroplating chamber to conduct static electricity from the inside of the electroplating chamber to the outside of the electroplating chamber; if the working state of the electroplating chamber is the working state or the engineering state, then there is no need to perform static electricity release operation on the electroplating chamber, and it is judged that the electroplating chamber is outside the target state, and the control component 103 controls the conductive component 102 to be disconnected from the ground; if the result of the static detection is 0, then it is judged that there is no static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber and it is outside the target state, and the control component 103 similarly controls the conductive component 102 to be disconnected from the ground.

[0034] Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features therein; and these modifications or substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrostatic eliminator for electroplating equipment, characterized in that: include: a paddle mounting member having a portion located within the electroplating chamber of the electroplating apparatus and used for mounting a paddle; A conductive member, one end of which is connected to the blade mounting member, and the other end of which is grounded; The control component is configured to determine the target state of the electroplating equipment according to the state parameters inside the electroplating chamber, and control the conductive component to be connected to the ground in the target state.

2. The static elimination device for electroplating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control element includes a detection unit and a control unit; The detection unit is configured to detect a state parameter; The control unit is configured to control the conductive member to be connected to or disconnected from the ground according to the state parameter of the detection unit.

3. The static elimination device for electroplating equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The state parameters include the working state of the electroplating chamber, and the working state of the electroplating chamber includes a working state, a standby state and a project state, wherein the standby state is the target state.

4. The static elimination device for electroplating equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The state parameters also include electrostatic detection results inside the electroplating chamber; The electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber includes 0 and non-0; When there is no static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, the static electricity detection result inside the electroplating chamber is 0; When static electricity accumulates in the electroplating chamber, the static electricity detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-zero; When the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-zero and the working state of the electroplating chamber is the standby state, the electroplating equipment is in the target state.

5. The static eliminator for electroplating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a driving mechanism for driving the blade to move and an insulating member arranged between the blade mounting member and the driving mechanism.

6. An electroplating device, characterized in that: The invention comprises the static eliminator as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A method for eliminating static electricity in electroplating equipment, characterized in that: The steps include: Installing the blade in the electroplating chamber of the electroplating equipment through the blade mounting member; Connect one end of the conductive member to the blade mounting member and the other end to ground; The target state of the electroplating equipment is determined by a control component according to the state parameters inside the electroplating chamber, and the conductive component is controlled to be connected to the ground within the target state and disconnected from the ground outside the target state.

8. The static elimination method for electroplating equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: Obtaining the current working state of the electroplating chamber, wherein the working state of the electroplating chamber includes a working state, a standby state, and a project state; When the electroplating chamber is in the standby state, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is in the target state, and the conductive member is controlled to be connected to the ground; When the electroplating chamber is in a working state or a project state, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is outside the target state, and the conductive part is controlled to be disconnected from the ground.

9. The static elimination method for electroplating equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that: When the electroplating chamber is in the standby state, the method further comprises: Conduct electrostatic testing inside the electroplating chamber; The electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber includes 0 and non-0; When there is no static electricity accumulation in the electroplating chamber, the static electricity detection result inside the electroplating chamber is 0; When static electricity accumulates in the electroplating chamber, the static electricity detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-zero; If the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is non-zero, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is in the target state, and the conductive member is controlled to be connected to the ground; If the electrostatic detection result inside the electroplating chamber is 0, it is determined that the electroplating equipment is outside the target state, and the conductive part is controlled to be disconnected from the ground.

10. The static elimination method for electroplating equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that Also includes: An insulating member is provided between the blade mounting member and a driving mechanism for driving the blade to move, so as to prevent the blade mounting member from being electroplated with metal.

Images