The fluid field of the electroless plating bath wasanalyzed using a Computational Fluid Dynamics Tool. Bysolving continuity and momentum equations, the pressure andvelocity distributions in the plating bath were predicted. Theanalysis was performed under various design options: flowdirection, flowrate, diffuser plate design, and wafer cassettedesign. It was found that with the reverse flow option; it seemsto deliver uniform flow as compared to the forward flow option.Flow pattern was similar among different flowrates anddiffuser designs. Low velocity flow always existed at the topportion of the wafer and near the last row of the wafer cassette.With the hypothesis that slower flowrate results in higherplating rate; a qualitative agreement has been observedbetween the predicted flow pattern and the plated nickel height uniformity.
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