Patent ID: 7332062

Claim:
A wafer chuck assembly for a semiconductor wafer electroplating tool, the wafer chuck assembly comprising: a wafer housing adapted to be a cathode of an electroplating circuit; a wafer backing plate disposed in the wafer housing and adapted to receive a semiconductor wafer for electroplating; a contact ring associated with the wafer housing and adapted to provide electrical contact between the wafer housing and a semiconductor wafer for electroplating; and a conductor arrangement associated with the wafer chuck assembly, the conductor arrangement including a plurality of annular conductors arranged coaxial to a received semiconductor wafer and including at least one annular conductor arranged radially outwardly of the received semiconductor wafer, the conductor arrangement adapted to receive a conductor control signal from a conductor controller operable to provide a plurality of conductor control signals to the conductor arrangement, whereby an electromagnetic field established proximate thereto using the contact ring is altered, wherein the plurality of annular conductors comprise at least one annular conductor arranged between the wafer backing plate and the received semiconductor wafer.