There is provided a contact structure, comprising a substrate contact including a first contact portion that is located on a leading end side of the substrate contact and that comes into contact with a substrate and a second contact portion that is located nearer to a base end side of the substrate contact than the first contact portion; a seal member configured to cover a periphery of the substrate contact and to have a sealing surface that comes into contact with the substrate to seal the substrate contact; a first pressing portion configured to elastically apply a contact pressure on the substrate to the substrate contact; and a second pressing portion configured to come into contact with the seal member and to apply a contact pressure on the substrate to the seal member independently of the first pressing portion, wherein the first contact portion adheres to the seal member, and the second contact portion is fit in the seal member to be displaceable relative to the seal member.

The invention relates to a metal sheet which has a plurality of parts to be plated, a frame part and connector parts connecting the parts to be plated and the frame part and in which the plurality of the parts to be plated, the frame part and the connector parts are made of a metal.

A method for electrochemically depositing metal on a sheet substrate, wherein an upper metal anode is placed above an electrolyte solution on the upper surface of the sheet substrate waiting for an metal electrochemical deposition, or placed elsewhere; the electrolyte solution passes the upper metal anode then flows onto the upper surface of the sheet substrate; the upper metal anode is subjected to an oxidation reaction under the action of a positive potential, losing electrons to generate metal ions, and then it flows down along with the electrolyte solution to the upper surface of the sheet substrate; the metal ions in the electrolyte solution get electrons on the cathode surface of the sheet substrate, and a metal is produced and deposited on the cathode surface of the sheet substrate.

For improving the current transfer during the electrolytic metallization of workpieces, a method is proposed: (a) providing a metal depositing apparatus 17, in which the workpiece, at least one anode 40, 41 and a metal deposition electrolyte AE are arranged and which has a device for electric current generation 60 and at least one current feeding device 31 with in each case at least one electrical contact element 34, 35 for making electrical contact with the workpiece; (b) bringing the at least one electrical contact element 34, 35 into contact with the workpiece; and (c) feeding electric current to the workpiece via the at least one electrical contact element 34, 35 in order that the deposition metal deposits on the workpiece. Before method step (b), in a further method step (d), deposition metal is deposited on the at least one electrical contact element 34, 35.

An electrolytic treatment apparatus 1 (1A) configured to perform an electrolytic treatment on a target substrate includes a substrate holder 10 and an electrolytic processor 20. The substrate holder 10 includes an insulating holding body 11 configured to hold the target substrate and an indirect negative electrode 12 disposed within the holding body 11. A negative voltage is applied to the indirect negative electrode 12. The electrolytic processor 20 is disposed to face the substrate holder 10 and configured to apply a voltage to the target substrate and an electrolyte in contact with the target substrate.

A surface treatment device utilizes an electrode device. The electrode device is provided with a closed part facing a bottom part of a bottomed hole when inserted inside the bottomed hole, and a flow through hole linking the inside and outside of the electrode device is formed in the electrode device. When surface treatment is implemented on the inner wall surface of the bottomed hole, the hollow electrode device is inserted into the inside of the bottomed hole, the electrolytic treatment solution is made to flow through the space inside the bottomed hole, and power is applied across the electrode device and the inner wall surface of the bottomed hole. The closed part faces the bottom part of the bottomed hole as an electrode across a prescribed surface area; therefore, electroplating at the bottom part of the bottomed hole proceeds to the same extent as other sites.

A contact ring for an electroprocessor has redundant contact fingers, i.e., more contact fingers than needed for contacting a very narrow edge exclusion zone on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The contact fingers have slightly different lengths so that they extend to different radial positions. By providing redundant contact fingers, and by slightly varying the lengths of the contact fingers, a sufficient number of contact fingers make contact with the electrically conductive surface in the edge exclusion zone to provide good electroplating results.

A substrate holder for vertical galvanic metal deposition on a substrate, comprising a first substrate holder part and a second substrate holder part, wherein both said parts comprise an inner metal comprising part and an outer non-metallic part in which the substrate holder further comprises a hanging element in each substrate holder part, a first sealing element in each substrate holder part, a second sealing element between the inner metal comprising part and the outer non-metallic part of the substrate holder, a fastening system for detachably fastening both substrate holder parts to each other, a first contact element in each substrate holder part for forwarding current from an outer source through the hanging element to the at least second contact element, and a second contact element in each substrate holder part for forwarding current from the at least first contact element to the substrate to be treated.

To provide a substrate holder having a new positioning structure, which does not use a plate spring, and a plating apparatus using this substrate holder. A substrate holder is provided. This substrate holder has a first holding member having a first surface configured to contact with a substrate, and a second holding member for sandwiching and holding the substrate together with the first holding member. The first holding member has a positioning member for positioning the substrate in contact with the first surface at a prescribed position of the first surface. The positioning member is configured to move between a first position where the substrate is to be positioned at the prescribed position of the first surface, in contact with a peripheral edge part of the substrate, and a second position not in contact with the substrate. The second holding member has a driving member configured to cause the positioning member to be positioned at the first position, at the time when holding the substrate by the first holding member and the second holding member.

A charge transfer mechanism is used to locally deposit or remove material for a small structure. A local electrochemical cell is created without having to immerse the entire work piece in a bath. The charge transfer mechanism can be used together with a charged particle beam or laser system to modify small structures, such as integrated circuits or micro-electromechanical system. The charge transfer process can be performed in air or, in some embodiments, in a vacuum chamber.