Provided is a technique that determines presence of a leakage of a plating solution to an arranged region of a contact member.

A leakage determination method includes: discharging step 120 of discharging a cleaning liquid to the contact member of a substrate holder after immersing a substrate held by the substrate holder in the plating solution and performing a plating process; a measuring step 122 of measuring a conductivity of the cleaning liquid after cleaning the contact member; and determining step 128 of determining presence or absence of a leakage of the plating solution to the arranged region of the contact member based on comparison between a first conductivity of a cleaning liquid measured in advance for a substrate holder serving as a reference and a second conductivity of the cleaning liquid measured in the measuring step 122.

Provided is a technique that determines presence of a leakage of a plating solution to an arranged region of a contact member.

A leakage determination method includes: discharging step 120 of discharging a cleaning liquid to the contact member of a substrate holder after immersing a substrate held by the substrate holder in the plating solution and performing a plating process; a measuring step 122 of measuring a conductivity of the cleaning liquid after cleaning the contact member; and determining step 128 of determining presence or absence of a leakage of the plating solution to the arranged region of the contact member based on comparison between a first conductivity of a cleaning liquid measured in advance for a substrate holder serving as a reference and a second conductivity of the cleaning liquid measured in the measuring step 122.

The electroplating apparatus for surface modification of pipes includes: a housing comprising an inner space accommodating an electrode, a plating solution, and a pipe therein, and a plating solution inlet disposed on a lower surface of the housing and allowing the plating solution to be injected therethrough; a plating auxiliary part disposed inside the housing, vertically fixing the pipe inserted into the housing, and guiding the plating solution injected into the housing to flow toward an upper portion of the housing; and an auxiliary support part disposed inside the housing, spacing the plating auxiliary part and the plating solution inlet apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and guiding the plating solution introduced through the plating solution inlet to flow in a direction, where the plating auxiliary part is disposed.

The electroplating apparatus for surface modification of pipes includes: a housing comprising an inner space accommodating an electrode, a plating solution, and a pipe therein, and a plating solution inlet disposed on a lower surface of the housing and allowing the plating solution to be injected therethrough; a plating auxiliary part disposed inside the housing, vertically fixing the pipe inserted into the housing, and guiding the plating solution injected into the housing to flow toward an upper portion of the housing; and an auxiliary support part disposed inside the housing, spacing the plating auxiliary part and the plating solution inlet apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and guiding the plating solution introduced through the plating solution inlet to flow in a direction, where the plating auxiliary part is disposed.

One object of the present disclosure is to facilitate maintenance of components placed in a lower portion of a face down-type apparatus for plating. There is provided an apparatus for plating, comprising: a plating tank configured to store a plating solution therein; a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate in such a state that a plating surface of the substrate faces down; and a drawer unit mounted to the plating tank to be freely drawable in a horizontal direction and provided with an anode that is placed to be opposed to the substrate in the plating tank and with a variable anode mask that includes an opening which the anode is exposed from and that is configured to adjust an opening size of the opening.

One object of the present disclosure is to facilitate maintenance of components placed in a lower portion of a face down-type apparatus for plating. There is provided an apparatus for plating, comprising: a plating tank configured to store a plating solution therein; a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate in such a state that a plating surface of the substrate faces down; and a drawer unit mounted to the plating tank to be freely drawable in a horizontal direction and provided with an anode that is placed to be opposed to the substrate in the plating tank and with a variable anode mask that includes an opening which the anode is exposed from and that is configured to adjust an opening size of the opening.

An electroplating apparatus is provided that minimizes unplated regions when an alloy plating layer is provided on the surface of a thread on a steel pipe. An electroplating apparatus (10) includes an electrode (1), sealing members (2, 3), and a plating-solution supply unit (4). The electrode (1) faces the thread (Tm). The sealing member (2) is positioned within the steel pipe (P1). The sealing member (3) is attached to the end portion of the steel pipe (P1) and, together with the sealing member (2), forms a receiving space (8). The plating-solution supply unit (4) includes a plurality of nozzles (42). The nozzles (42) are positioned within the receiving space (8) and adjacent one end of the thread (Tm) and arranged around the pipe axis of the steel pipe (P1). The plating-solution supply unit (4) injects a plating solution between the thread (Tm) and electrode (1) through the nozzles (42). The direction in which plating solution is injected from the nozzles (42) is inclined at an angle larger than 20 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees toward the thread (Tm) relative to a plane perpendicular to the pipe axis.

A method for electroplating a nonmetallic grating including providing a nonmetallic grating; performing an atomic layer deposition (ALD) reaction to form a seed layer on the nonmetallic grating; and electroplating a metallic layer on the seed layer such that the metallic layer uniformly and conformally coats the nonmetallic grating. An apparatus including a silicon substrate having gratings with an aspect-ratio of at least 20:1; a atomic layer deposition (ALD) seed layer formed on the gratings; and an electroplated metallic layer formed on the seed layer, wherein the electroplated metallic layer uniformly and conformally coats the gratings.

An electrochemical device comprises a fluidic cell having an internal volume able to be filled with a fluid and at least one first and one second electrode making contact with the internal volume, wherein at least the first electrode comprises a thin layer made of a conductive material that is optically absorbent at at least one wavelength in the visible, near-infrared or near-ultraviolet spectrum, the thin layer being arranged on or in an internal surface of a wall of the fluidic cell which is at least partially transparent to said wavelength . An electrochemical apparatus comprises such an electrochemical device and an optical microscope arranged to illuminate the first electrode through the wall at at least said wavelength and also to observe it through the wall.

The embodiments herein relate to methods and apparatus for electroplating one or more materials onto a substrate. In many cases the material is a metal and the substrate is a semiconductor wafer, though the embodiments are no so limited. Typically, the embodiments herein utilize a channeled plate positioned near the substrate, creating a cross flow manifold defined on the bottom by the channeled plate, on the top by the substrate, and on the sides by a cross flow confinement ring. During plating, fluid enters the cross flow manifold both upward through the channels in the channeled plate, and laterally through a cross flow side inlet positioned on one side of the cross flow confinement ring. The flow paths combine in the cross flow manifold and exit at the cross flow exit, which is positioned opposite the cross flow inlet. These combined flow paths result in improved plating uniformity.