Disclosed are pre-wetting apparatus designs and methods. These apparatus designs and methods are used to pre-wet a wafer prior to plating a metal on the surface of the wafer. Disclosed compositions of the pre-wetting fluid prevent corrosion of a seed layer on the wafer and also improve the filling rates of features on the wafer.

The disclosed embodiments relate to methods and apparatus for immersing a substrate in electrolyte in an electroplating cell under sub-atmospheric conditions to reduce or eliminate the formation/trapping of bubbles as the substrate is immersed. Various electrolyte recirculation loops are disclosed to provide electrolyte to the plating cell. The recirculation loops may include pumps, degassers, sensors, valves, etc. The disclosed embodiments allow a substrate to be immersed quickly, greatly reducing the issues related to bubble formation and uneven plating times during electroplating.

Devices to deliver one or more active ingredients for medical treatment may include a body of material presenting a surface including a polymer adapted to be rendered conductive such that one or more layers of electrospray particles are formable thereon or a body of conductive material presenting a surface upon which one or more layers of electrospray particles are formable thereon. A coating formed of electrospray particles may be deposited to adhere on the surface of the body of material (e.g., the coating may include one or more layers of coating material, at least one layer of the one or more layers of coating material may include an open matrix coating, the open matrix coating may include one or more active ingredients, the open matrix coating may include one or more polymers and one or more active ingredients, etc.).

The present disclosure relates to a method of forming a metallic layer having pores extending therethrough, the method comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a cathode substrate with an electrolyte solution comprising at least one cation; reducing the cation to deposit the metallic layer on a surface of the cathode substrate; and (c) generating a plurality of non-conductive regions on the cathode substrate surface during reducing step (b); wherein the deposition of the metallic layer is substantially prevented on the non-conductive regions on the cathode substrate surface to thereby form pores extending through the deposited metallic layer. The present disclosure further provides a metallic porous membrane fabricated by the disclosed process.

An electroplating cell employable with an electroplating tool and method of operating the same. In one embodiment, the electroplating cell includes a cover configured to substantially seal the electroplating cell to an outside atmosphere during an electroplating process, and a porous tube couplable to an inert gas source configured to bubble an inert gas through an electrolyte containable therein. The electroplating cell also includes an anode, encased in an envelope of a semipermeable membrane, formed with an alloy of electroplating material, and a magnet configured to orient an axis of magnetization of the electroplating material for application to a wafer couplable thereto during an electroplating process.

According to an embodiment, an anode portion and a cathode portion are arranged in a reaction tank so as to opposite to each other with a distance provided. A plating solution which contains at least metal ions for plating, an electrolyte and a surfactant is provided in the reaction tank. A pattern of a metal plating film is formed on a surface of the cathode portion by setting the cathode portion at a negative electric potential with respect to an electric potential of the anode portion. A distance between the anode portion and a surface of a pattern of the metal plating film to be formed on the surface of the cathode portion is set to be smaller than a half value width of a cross-section of a portion of the pattern of the metal plating film having a minimum width.

Provided are a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for an aluminum film in which moisture and oxygen do not intrude into a plating chamber. A manufacturing method for an aluminum film, in which aluminum is electrodeposited on a surface of a long, porous resin substrate imparted with electrical conductivity in a molten salt electrolytic solution, includes a step of transferring the substrate W into a plating chamber 1 through a sealing chamber 4 disposed on the entrance side of the plating chamber; a step of electrodepositing an aluminum film on the surface of the substrate W in the plating chamber 1; and a step of transferring the substrate having the aluminum film electrodeposited thereon from the plating chamber 1 through a sealing chamber 5 disposed on the exit side of the plating chamber 1, in which an inert gas is supplied into the plating chamber such that the plating chamber has a positive pressure relative to outside air, and the inert gas is forcibly discharged from an inert gas exhaust pipe 7 provided on each of the two sealing chambers.

Disclosed are novel electrolytes, and techniques for making and devices using such electrolytes, which are based on compressed-gas solvents. Unlike conventional electrolytes, the disclosed electrolytes are based on compressed-gas solvents mixed with various salts, referred to as compressed gas electrolytes. Various embodiments of a compressed-gas solvent includes a material that is in a gas phase and has a vapor pressure above atmospheric pressure at a room temperature. The disclosed compressed-gas electrolytes can have wide electrochemical potential windows, high conductivity, low temperature capability and/or high-pressure solvent properties. Examples of a class of compressed gases that can be used as solvent for electrolytes include hydrofluorocarbons, in particular fluoromethane, difluoromethane, tetrafluoroethane, and pentafluoroethane. Also disclosed are battery structures and supercapacitor structures that use compressed gas solvent-based electrolytes, and techniques for constructing such energy storage devices. Techniques for electroplating difficult-to-deposit materials using compressed-gas electrolytes as an electroplating bath are also disclosed.

A hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle includes a nozzle tip configured to interface with a portion of a substructure. The nozzle also includes an inner coaxial tube connected to a reservoir containing an electrolyte and an anode, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the nozzle tip onto the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes an outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes at least one contact pin configured to make electrical contact with a conductive track on the substrate.

The present invention relates to an electroplating apparatus and an electroplating method, and more specifically, to an electroplating apparatus and an electroplating method, which can plate a target on one side of a substrate while moving an anode horizontally, and consistently maintain the concentration of iron ions in a plating solution through the injection of inert gas when the plating solution is supplied during the plating process, thereby providing excellent plating quality.