Patent ID: 7204916

Claim:
A plating apparatus for performing a plating process for plating a surface of a substrate, the plating apparatus comprising: a first electrode to be brought into contact with a peripheral edge portion of the substrate; a plating vessel for containing a plating liquid to be brought into contact with the surface of the substrate, the plating vessel having a vertical tubular interior surface; a second electrode disposed in the plating vessel, the second electrode being spaced from the substrate by a distance which is not smaller than half of the inner diameter of the plating vessel; and an electric current limiting member for limiting horizontal flow of an electric current in the plating liquid between the second electrode and the substrate within the plating vessel during the plating process; wherein the electric current limiting member has through-holes disposed across the horizontal cross-section thereof and each extending vertically; wherein said through-holes of the electric current limiting member are provided by a plurality of tubes vertically disposed side-by-side and in contact with each other, occupying a space defined between the second electrode and the substrate in the plating vessel during the plating process; and wherein an inner space and an outer lateral space of each tube communicate with each other via a space within the plating vessel below the plurality of tubes.