Patent ID: 7344977

Claim:
A method of electroplating a substance over a semiconductor substrate, comprising: forming a first electrically conductive material over a first region of the semiconductor substrate and forming a second electrically conductive material over a second region of the semiconductor substrate, the first and second electrically conductive materials differing from one another in the rate that a substance electrodeposits on them, with the substance electrodepositing more rapidly on the first electrically conductive material than on the second electrically conductive material; the second electrically conductive material not being over the first region of the semiconductor substrate, and the first electrically conductive material not being over the second region of the semiconductor substrate; flowing an electrical current through the first and second electrically conductive materials while exposing both of the first and second electrically conductive materials to an electrolytic solution; and electroplating said substance onto the first electrically conductive material during the flowing of the electrical current through the first and second electrically conductive materials; the electroplating of said substance onto the first electrically conductive material being selective relative to any electroplating of the substance onto the second electrically conductive material due to the different rates at which the substance electrodeposits on the first and second electrically conductive materials.