Conditioning of contact leads for metal plating systems

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical metal plating system. The method includes deplating the contacts by supplying a reversed biased energy and monitoring electrical measurements of the plating system in real-time such that the endpoint of a deplating process can be determined. In different embodiments, the method includes the use of a constant current or voltage, variable current or voltage, or combinations thereof for conditioning the contacts.

1 . A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising: 
 applying an electrical input to deplate the contacts in the absence of a substrate thereon;    monitoring real-time electrical measurements to obtain an indication thereof; and    using the indication of the real-time electrical measurements to determine an endpoint.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electrical input to deplate the contacts is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electrical input is performed by applying a voltage selected form the group consisting of a voltage applied to the electrochemical plating system, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to a reference electrode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to a counterelectrode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to an anode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to an auxiliary electrode, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the real-time electrical measurements are selected from the group consisting of real-time current measurements, real-time voltage measurements, voltage measurements of the electrochemical plating system, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to a reference electrode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to a counterelectrode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to an anode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to an auxiliary electrode, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the indication of the real-time electrical measurements is selected from the group consisting of a predetermined value of voltage, a predetermined value of current, a predetermined change in voltage, a predetermined change in current, a predetermined rate of voltage variation in time, a predetermined rate of current variation in time, a predetermined change in the rate of voltage variation, a predetermined change in the rate of current variation, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the real-time electrical measurements are monitored by electrical instruments adapted to generate a computer readable output.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising stopping the electrical input once the endpoint is determined.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising additional conditioning step after the endpoint is reached and the additional step is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising collecting all the real-time electrical measurements and feeding back the real-time electrical measurements to a software control system of the electrochemical plating system.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising plating a metal layer onto the contacts after the endpoint is obtained.  
   
   
       11 . A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising: 
 immersing the contacts in the electrolyte solution;    applying an anodically controlled electrical input to the contacts; and    monitoring real-time electrical measurements from the plating apparatus until a signal indicating the contacts are conditioned.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the anodically controlled electrical input applied to the contacts comprises a constant electrical current and the real-time electrical measurements comprises real-time voltage measurements.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the signal is selected from the group consisting of a predetermined value of voltage, a predetermined change in voltage, a predetermined rate of voltage variation in time, a change in the rate of voltage variation, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the anodically controlled electrical input applied to the contacts comprises a constant electrical voltage and the real-time electrical measurements comprises real-time current measurements.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the signal is selected from the group consisting of a predetermined value of current, a predetermined change in the current, a predetermined rate of current variation in time, a change in the rate of current variation, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the constant electrical voltage is a voltage selected form the group consisting of a voltage applied to the electrochemical plating system, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to a reference electrode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to a counterelectrode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to an anode, a voltage applied to the contacts relative to an auxiliary electrode, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the real-time electrical measurements are monitored by electrical instruments adapted to generate a computer readable output.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the anodically controlled electrical input applied to the contacts is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising stopping the electrical input once the endpoint is determined.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising additional conditioning step after the signal is obtained and the additional step is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       21 . A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising: 
 immersing the contacts in the electrolyte solution; and    applying a cathodic electrical input onto the contacts to plate a metal layer onto the contacts in the absence of a substrate thereon.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 applying an anodically controlled electrical input to deplate the contacts in the absence of the substrate thereon;    monitoring real-time electrical measurements to obtain an indication thereof; and    using the indication of the real-time electrical measurements to determine an endpoint.    
   
   
       23 . A method for plating a metal material onto a substrate in an electrochemical plating system and conditioning contacts of the electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution and the substrate therein, comprising: 
 plating the metal material onto the substrate by applying a cathodic electrical input onto the contacts;    removing the substrate from the electrochemical plating system;    applying an anodically controlled electrical input to the contacts to remove the metal material left on the contacts; and    monitoring real-time electrical measurements from the plating apparatus until a signal indicating the contacts are conditioned.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the anodically controlled electrical input applied to the contacts is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the real-time electrical measurements are selected from the group consisting of real-time current measurements, real-time voltage measurements, voltage measurements of the electrochemical plating system, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to a reference electrode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to a counterelectrode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to an anode, voltage measurements of the contacts relative to an auxiliary electrode, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising additional conditioning step after the signal is obtained and the additional step is selected from the group consisting of a controlled constant electrical current, a controlled constant electrical voltage, a smoothly varying controlled current, a smoothly varying controlled voltage, a stepwise varying controlled current, a stepwise varying controlled voltage, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, current pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pulses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, oscillating current, oscillating voltage, current pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled currents, voltage pauses in combination with one or more controlled voltages, and combinations thereof.