PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15971956
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-05
Publication Date: 2018-11
Patent Classification: ["205", "096000"]

Abstract:
An apparatus for electroplating metal on a semiconductor substrate with improved azimuthal uniformity includes in one aspect: a plating chamber configured to contain an electrolyte and an anode; a substrate holder configured to hold the semiconductor substrate; an ionically resistive ionically permeable element (“the element”) configured to be positioned proximate the substrate; and a shield configured for providing azimuthally asymmetrical shielding and positioned between the substrate holder and the element such that the closest distance between the substrate-facing surface of the shield and the working surface of the substrate is less than 2 mm. In some embodiments there is an electrolyte-filled gap between the substrate-facing surface of the element and the shield during electroplating. The substrate-facing surface of the shield may be contoured such that the distance from different positions of the shield to the substrate is varied.

Claim (Index 29):
A method of electroplating a metal on a semiconductor substrate while controlling azimuthal uniformity, the method comprising:\n (a) providing the semiconductor substrate into an electroplating apparatus configured for rotating the substrate during electroplating, wherein the electroplating apparatus comprises a shield, configured for providing azimuthally asymmetric shielding, wherein the shield has a central angle of between about 100-180 degrees, and wherein the shield is positioned such that the closest distance between a substrate-facing surface of the shield and the semiconductor substrate is less than about 2 mm during electroplating; and (b) electroplating the metal on the substrate while rotating the substrate relative to the shield such that a selected portion of the substrate at a selected azimuthal position dwells in a shielded area for a different amount of time than a second portion of the substrate having the same average arc length and the same average radial position and residing at a different angular azimuthal position.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 23.0
- Percentile: 93.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.96053
- Patent Class: 205.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14734882', '14483942', '13438443', '14987170', '14602910']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.788702330435791
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.6160794471374945
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7714400421059613
- Mean Citation Score: 454.861338
- Max Citation Score: 598.47577
- Similarity Product: 513.2391065759731

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test