Patent ID: 7358186

Claim:
An apparatus for depositing a material on a surface of a wafer, comprising: a tank defined by an enclosing wall and a bottom, the tank being configured to contain an electroless plating solution; a wafer support structure disposed within the tank, the wafer support structure being configured to support a wafer at a submerged position within the electroless plating solution to be contained within the tank; and a radiant energy source disposed above the wafer support structure, the radiant energy source oriented to direct radiant energy toward the wafer to be supported at the submerged position within the electroless plating solution, wherein the radiant energy source is designed to generate radiant energy having a wavelength range that will be selectively absorbed by atoms, molecules, or both atoms and molecules of a first material present at a surface of the wafer upon which the radiant energy is incident without being substantially absorbed by a second material present at the surface of the wafer near the first material, wherein the selective absorption of the radiant energy by the first material will cause a selective heating and increased temperature of the first material, and wherein the lack of substantial absorption of the radiant energy by the second material will avoid a substantial heating and increased temperature of the second material, wherein the radiant energy source is defined to sufficiently heat the first material in exposure to the electroless plating solution so as to cause an electroless plating reaction to selectively occur on the first material without occurring on the second material.