Electroplating apparatus and method

Abstract

Provided is an electroplating apparatus including: a water tank that is filled with a non-polar solvent having a higher specific gravity than an electrolyte in which an electrolyte layer is formed on top of the non-polar solvent; a copper electrode that is installed at a portion where the electrolyte layer of the water tank is positioned; an insulating substrate that is disposed to be inserted into and withdrawn from the water tank and on which seed electrodes are formed; an actuator that escalates the insulating substrate up and down; and a power supply that applies electric current between the copper electrode and each of the seed electrodes, to thereby uniformly form thickness of a metal thin film on a large substrate and guarantee grain size.

1 . An electroplating apparatus comprising:
 a water tank that is filled with a non-polar solvent having a higher specific gravity than an electrolyte in which an electrolyte layer is formed on top of the non-polar solvent;   a copper electrode that is installed at a portion where the electrolyte layer of the water tank is positioned;   an actuator that escalates an insulating substrate up and down, the insulating substrate that is disposed to be inserted into and withdrawn from the water tank and on which seed electrodes are formed; and   a power supply that applies electric current between the copper electrode and each of the seed electrodes.   
     
     
         2 . The electroplating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein chloroform whose specific gravity is 1.5 g/ml is used as the non-polar solvent. 
     
     
         3 . The electroplating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a copper film is formed on the surface of each seed electrode, when the insulating substrate is inserted into the water tank. 
     
     
         4 . An electroplating apparatus comprising:
 a water tank that is filled with a first non-polar solvent having a higher specific gravity than an electrolyte and a second non-polar solvent having a lower specific gravity than the electrolyte in which an electrolyte layer is formed between the first and second non-polar solvents;   a copper electrode that is installed at a portion where the electrolyte layer of the water tank is positioned;   an actuator that escalates the insulating substrate up and down, the insulating substrate that is disposed to be inserted into and withdrawn from the water tank and on which seed electrodes are formed; and   a power supply that applies electric current between the copper electrode and each of the seed electrodes.   
     
     
         5 . The electroplating apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein chloroform is used as the first non-polar solvent, and hexane is used as the second non-polar solvent. 
     
     
         6 . The electroplating apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein a copper film is formed on the surface of each seed electrode, when the insulating substrate is withdrawn from the water tank. 
     
     
         7 . An electroplating method comprising the steps of:
 filling a non-polar solvent whose specific gravity is higher than that of an electrolyte in a water tank and forming an electrolyte layer on top of the non-polar solvent;   installing a copper electrode at a portion where the electrolyte layer of the water tank is positioned;   inserting an insulating substrate on which seed electrodes are formed from the upper side of the water tank to the inside of the water tank at constant speed; and   applying electric current between each of the seed electrodes and the copper electrode to thus sequentially form a copper film on the surface of each seed electrode that passes through the electrolyte layer.   
     
     
         8 . An electroplating method comprising the steps of:
 filling a first non-polar solvent whose specific gravity is higher than that of an electrolyte and a second non-polar solvent whose specific gravity is lower than that of the electrolyte in a water tank and forming an electrolyte layer between the first and second non-polar solvents;   installing a copper electrode at a portion where the electrolyte layer of the water tank is positioned;   withdrawing an insulating substrate on which seed electrodes are formed from the inside of the water tank to the upper side of the water tank at constant speed; and   applying electric current between each of the seed electrodes and the copper electrode to thus sequentially form a copper film on the surface of each seed electrode that passes through the electrolyte layer.