IKO Jr Electroplater

2024-12-20 to 2025-01-02: Reduced Holiday Operations

Dear Birck Research Community,

The Purdue winter recess begins effective Friday afternoon December 20th and concludes Thursday morning, January 2. The university is officially closed during this time. As we have done in past years, the Birck Nanotechnology Center will remain available for research but will be unstaffed and hazardous gasses will be unavailable. Lab work may otherwise proceed, though any fume hood work must be done with someone else present in the same laboratory or cleanroom bay (the "buddy" system). Click the link above to get more detail about equipment conditions and rules.


Refer to the Material and Process Compatibility page for information on materials compatible with this tool.
Equipment Status: Set as UP, PROBLEM, or DOWN, and report the issue date (MM/DD) and a brief description. Italicized fields will be filled in by BNC Staff in response to issues. See Problem Reporting Guide for more info.

StatusWIP - Install
Issue Date and Description


Estimated Fix Date and Comment

Responding StaffBill Rowe

/wiki/spaces/BNCWiki/pages/6237786


iLab Name: IKO Jr Electroplater
iLab Kiosk: BRK Growth
FIC:
Shared
Owner:
Bill Rowe
Location:
BRK 2031
Maximum Wafer Size: 
4"/150 mm

Overview

General Description

(Note, this is from the IKO Jr website with slight midifications)

IKo™ Jr. is a practical benchtop tool with the smallest footprint on the market capable of efficiently electroplating 4” wafers with just 1 Gal of solution. Designed for fast electroplating of high-resolution interconnects and fine metallic features on wafers and substrates.

  • micro/macro uniformity <5% across the wafer
  • superior process control for sub-mil features
  • low purchase and operating costs
  • requires only 1 Gal of solution
  • generates minimal environmental impact
  • smallest plater footprint on the market (20"X20")
  • handles various-sized wafers (2cm2 to 4")
  • extremely fast -- typically, 1µ per minute
  • uses off-the-shelf chemistries with minimal additives
  • efficiently reuses chemical solution
  • easy to use/maintain

IKo™ Jr. is fabricated with PVC and polypropylene and a minimum of metal parts to avoid potential contamination of electroplating solutions. Metal features are stainless and titanium. All parts can be easily disassembled for maintenance.

The unit is made up of two sections: 

  1. Electroplating Section -- conveniently accessible while preparing wafers for plating. 
  2. Power Section -- rolls over the Electroplating Section for processing. 


IKo's arrangement of wafer holder, reciprocating anode, reverse pulse rectifier and pump ensure surpassing performance:

  •  Wafer holder, ergonomically designed for easy processing and handling. IKo™ can accommodate various wafer sizes. A full-circle, elastic electric contact provides uniform current distribution. Result: uniform thickness features across the wafer.
  • Reciprocating anode, a proprietary feature. Provides for an efficient exchange of matter and uniform electric field distribution.
  • Programmable Reverse-pulse rectifier, contributes to equipment versatility. Reverse-pulse current during processing efficiently controls plating thickness distribution along the Z-axis.
  • Fan-out pump with constant filtration (regardless of fine filter medium). Provides a constant flow of high-quality bulk solution.

Specifications

wafer size:

2cm2 to 4"

metals plated:

Cu, Ni, Au. Addition baths could be purchased for Pd,
Sn, Pb, Pt, Fe, Ag, Permalloy, Sn/Pb, Pd/Ni and others.

current DC and pulse avg:

0.1A, 1.0A and 3.0A

current peak:

0.3A, 3.0A and 6.0A

volts:

0-10

control:

sealed keypad for setup of optional controls and features

on/off timing:

4 digit 0.01 mS to 99 seconds

programmable timer:

4 digit realtime

stability:

+/- 1mA

ripple:

less 1%

anode insoluble:

FIBRoplate™ anode

anode soluble:

FIBRoplate™ titanium basket

rec. frequency:

0-2.7 Hz

wafer holder:

Full Circle gasket/contact, current collector

filtration:

Continuous-cartridge, 400 GPH with 1µ filtration

venting:

Fume exhaust attachment

heater:

Thermostat, 160F max., 550 Watt

solution volume:

1.06 Gal, 4 liters

footprint:

20" wide, 20" deep, 25" high

Sample Requirements and Preparation


Standard Operating Procedure


Questions & Troubleshooting



Process Library


References

From Manufacturer, ECSI: