A Revolutionary Approach to Cu Electroplating: Achieving Fast Deposition Rates for Cu Interconnects with a Non-consumable Anode

The demand for copper electroplating layers is rapidly increasing, driven by the growing need for thicker interconnect metal layers in advanced applications such as backside power delivery (BPD), hybrid bonding, and redistribution layers (RDL). While traditional copper anodes have been effective in facilitating efficient copper electroplating and have served as the primary method for metal electroplating in the semiconductor industry, the use of non-consumable anodes presents some further improvement opportunities especially for thicker plating applications. Non-consumable anodes have the potential to enhance particle performance during the electroplating process while also reducing maintenance frequency, leading to improved tool uptime. While the idea of replacing consumable Cu anode with a non-consumable anode has long been pursued, the semiconductor industry has struggled greatly to implement it effectively within the copper damascene process because of the challenges it presents. That is, until now. We've successfully developed a groundbreaking design that not only makes non-consumable anode integration possible but also revolutionizes plating bath management. This breakthrough has enabled over six months of uninterrupted tool operation with zero anode maintenance, slashing operational costs by more than 40%. This marks a major leap forward in copper electroplating technology, offering a sustainable solution for the future of semiconductor manufacturing.