Patent ID: 11859300
Assignee: LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION
Field: Surface technology, coating (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  H | IPC C  H

Claim 17:
18. An electroplating system for electroplating metal onto a substrate during fabrication of a device, the electroplating system comprising:
(a) an electroplating cell comprising an anode chamber and a cathode chamber and configured to hold the substrate in the cathode chamber while electroplating the metal onto the substrate;
(b) an electroplating solution reservoir configured to hold a portion of an electroplating solution while electroplating the metal onto the substrate;
(c) a recirculation system for delivering the electroplating solution between the electroplating cell and the electroplating solution reservoir;
(d) a make up solution inlet for providing make up solution to the electroplating system;
(e) a secondary electroplating solution inlet for providing a secondary electroplating solution to the electroplating system;
(f) an outlet for removing the electroplating solution from the electroplating system, wherein the make-up solution inlet (d) and the outlet (f) are configured for an implementation of a bleed-and-feed process; and
(g) a controller comprising instructions for causing the steps of:
(i) providing an electroplating solution to the electroplating system, wherein the electroplating solution comprises multiple components for electroplating the metal onto the substrate,
(ii) electroplating the metal onto the substrate while the substrate is held in the cathode chamber,
(iii) supplying the make up solution to the electroplating system via the make up solution inlet, wherein the make up solution comprises some or all of the multiple components, wherein supplying the make up solution to the electroplating system changes the electroplating solution's composition so that at least one of the multiple components in the electroplating solution moves closer to its target concentration;
(iv) supplying the secondary electroplating solution to the electroplating system via the secondary electroplating solution inlet, wherein the secondary electroplating solution comprises some or all of the multiple components, and wherein at least one of the following conditions (1) and (2) is satisfied:
(1) the secondary electroplating solution comprises at least one of the multiple components at a secondary concentration that is significantly higher than its target concentration,
(2) the secondary electroplating solution comprises at least one of the multiple components at a secondary concentration that is significantly lower than its target concentration; and

(v) removing the electroplating solution from the electroplating system via the outlet, wherein the metal is copper, and wherein the program instructions comprise instructions for causing the secondary electroplating solution to comprise copper at a significantly higher concentration than the make-up solution.