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Electro-deposition : Cirrus : ECR : Publications Library

Fig 1.) Stratus™ unique back-to-back wafer holder ensures precise alignment between the wafer and critical process elements, such as Shear Plate agitation paddle and plating electrodes, enabling small process cell size.

Fig 2.) View inside process cell showing ShearPlate agitation paddle.

Stratus datasheet (PDF) :Stratus FAQs

Stratus provides industry-leading yield at the lowest cost of ownership for pattern plating and TSV applications. Innovative ShearPlate technology eliminates the complex process tuning and process drift adjustment required by competing multi-zone anode fountain tools. ShearPl.ate technology solves the fundamental problem of production electrodeposition by separating the control of electric field and fluid flow. Stratus is the technology leader for TSV, sold bumping, copper pillar, UBM, and other advanced packaging applications.

Stratus' ShearPlate technology controls the fluid boundary layer at the wafer surface, providing several advantages. A uniform and thin boundary layer is essential for TSV and pattern plating to achieve deposition uniformity and a wide chemical operating window. In Stratus, the wafer fluid flow is independent of anode fluid flow, so chemistry breakdown at the anode and, thus, chemistry costs are minimized without use of expensive membrane separation hardware. Strong agitation at the wafer surface, combined with the wafer vertical orientation, avoids yield loss due to bubble entrapment.

Stratus' hardware avoids the maintenance costs of competing tools. Only a single motion axis -- the ShearPlate motion -- is required in the process modules, and this is fully supported by magnetic bearings. Competing tools have mulltiple axes of motion, with mechanical bearings, all of which add maintenance costs, robot teach time, and reliability problems.

Stratus' vertical architecture, offering multiple metals with up to 20 metal plating positions, provides system flexibility and high throughput. This configuration, combined with sufficient rinse/dry and pretreatment capacity, provides more than twice the throghput of competing tools.

The Stratus' modular architecture permits a system layout optimized to your process and throughput requirements -- from R&D to a multi-metal, high throughput production system.

There are two models, each with two configurations:

• Model S200 — 150/200 mm fully automated system for production
• Model S300 — 200/300 mm fully automated system for production
  • Configuration FX — up to 10 plating cells
  • Configuration DX — up to 4 plating cells

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