There are provided a plating apparatus and a plating method enabling continuous operation even while a stocker is taken out of the plating apparatus. The plating apparatus includes a plating treatment section performing plating on a substrate and a plurality of stockers configured to be able to store a holder configured to hold a substrate or an anode. At least one of the plurality of stockers is configured to be movable into and out of the plating apparatus.

A rotor for polishing hollow tubes, in which an outer tube is slidable over an inner tube and is provided with at least one window in the wall. At the window on the inner tube, a plate vane is fixed at the base end to an auxiliary shaft arranged perpendicular to the main shaft so as to be able to rotationally move. A link bar is arranged in the main shaft direction to extend between the outer tube and the plate vane. The rotor is able to transition between an initial state (plate vane closed) and an operational state (plate vane open) by the inner tube moving relative to the outer tube. An electrode for electropolishing or a buff for mechanical polishing is fixed to the tip end of the plate vane. This allows for adjustment of the position of the plate vane and control of the polished state.

An apparatus for use in the electro-production of metals, comprising a plurality of anodes and a plurality of cathodes in an interleaved configuration, wherein each anode and cathode pair forms a cell; a plurality of power supplies, each cell associated with one or more respective power supplies; and the power supplies are arranged to control a direct current in the one or more cells to a predetermined value.

According to one embodiment, a pattern transfer device includes a substrate, a transfer unit and a controller. The transfer unit is configured to have electrodes and transfer a pattern corresponding to the electrodes with a voltage applied between the substrate and the electrodes. The controller is configured to control humidity between the substrate and the transfer unit.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a holding device that includes a conductive member and holds a substrate, a conduction path structure that includes a conductive material and positioned such that the conduction path structure is in contact with the holding device, a supply device that supplies a processing liquid to the substrate held by the holding device, and a grounding structure including a variable resistance device that changes a resistance such that the grounding structure has a first end portion connected the conduction path structure and a second end portion connected to a ground potential.

An electrolytic processing jig configured to perform an electrolytic processing on a processing target substrate by using a processing liquid supplied to the processing target substrate includes a base body having a flat plate shape; and a direct electrode provided on a front surface of the base body and configured to be brought into contact with the processing liquid to apply a voltage between the processing target substrate and the direct electrode. An irregularity pattern is formed on a front surface of the electrolytic processing jig at a processing target substrate side.

An electro-processing apparatus has a contact ring including a seal which is able to compensate for electric field distortions created by a notch (or other irregularity) on the wafer or work piece. The shape of the contact ring at the notch is changed, to reduce current crowding at the notch. The change in shape changes the resistance of the current path between a thief electrode and the wafer edge to increase thief electrode current drawn from the region of the notch. As a result, the wafer is plated with a film having more uniform thickness.

The slow speed of conventional selective electroplating and L-PED (and further requirement of a series of masks in the case of selective electroplating) necessary to generate a metallic three-dimensional object makes conventional selective electroplating and L-PED not viable for mass manufacturing metallic three-dimensional objects. The presently disclosed technology generally utilizes electroplating and L-PED technologies with a screen electroplating process. The screen electroplating process disclosed herein is capable of achieving a faster throughput and a lower workpiece temperature than traditional 3D printing processes can provide, particularly traditional metal 3D printing processes. As a result, the presently disclosed screen electroplating process is able to achieve much faster results in printing a complex three-dimensional metallic structure using electroplating.

A preparation method of a copper-based graphene composite with high thermal conductivity is provided. A new electrodeposited solution is used for direct current (DC) electrodeposition at a reasonable electrodeposition frequency, which fabricates a new copper-based graphene composite with high tensile strength and thermal conductivity. The copper-based graphene composite prepared by electrodeposition has high thermal conductivity of 390-1112 W/(m.Math.k) and tensile strength of 300-450 MPa, which meets the requirements in the field of thermal conduction.

A method of electroplating a target electrode comprises establishing a first electric current through an electrolytic solution, comprising a quantity of an electrically charged material, an initial electrode, and a transitional electrode, so that a quantity of the electrically charged material is converted to a quantity of an electrically neutral material, which is electroplated, as a deposit, onto the transitional electrode; and establishing a second electric current through the electrolytic solution, the transitional electrode, and the target electrode so that a quantity of the electrically neutral material from the deposit is converted to a quantity of the electrically charged material, which is dissolved into the electrolytic solution, and a quantity of the electrically charged material in the electrolytic solution is converted to a quantity of the electrically neutral material, which is electroplated onto the surface of the target electrode.