A substrate processing apparatus includes a liquid processing module, provided with a carry-out/in opening of a substrate, including therein a first liquid processing device and a second liquid processing device; a module-outside transfer device configured to carry the substrate out from and into the liquid processing module; and a module-inside transfer device configured to transfer the substrate between the first liquid processing device and the second liquid processing device. The first liquid processing device is equipped with a first holder configured to hold the substrate. The second liquid processing device is equipped with a second holder configured to hold the substrate. The second liquid processing device is configured to perform a plating processing on the substrate held by the second holder. The first liquid processing device is configured to perform at least a post-cleaning processing performed after the plating processing on the substrate held by the first holder.

An article including a substrate having on at least a portion of its surface a multilayer coating. The multilayer coating including at least one layer of electroless nickel overlying the portion of the surface, at least one layer of electrolytic nickel overlying the layer of electroless nickel, and at least one layer of an electrolytic tin-nickel overlying the layer of electrolytic nickel.

A metal material comprising: a base material; an oxide layer disposed on a surface of the base material; and a metal layer disposed on a surface of the oxide layer, wherein the base material includes aluminum, the oxide layer includes aluminum, nickel, and oxygen, the metal layer includes nickel, and an average thickness of the oxide layer is no less than 50 nm and no more than 250 nm.

Various embodiments described herein relate to conformal deposition of a copper seed layer on a thin or ultrathin liner layer to enable bulk copper filling of a recessed feature. The copper seed layer may be continuous and thin, where a thickness can be equal to or less than about 30 . The liner layer may be very thin, where a thickness can be equal to or less than about 12 after deposition of the copper seed layer. In some implementations, the copper seed layer may be deposited directly on an ultrathin liner layer without etching the liner layer. In some implementations, the copper seed layer may be deposited on the liner layer while etching the liner layer to an ultrathin thickness. In some implementations, the copper seed layer is deposited by electroless plating.