Electroless plating apparatus

Abstract

There is provided an electroless plating apparatus which, despite using a high-productivity batch processing method, can reduce the amount of a liquid chemical brought out of a processing tank, thereby reducing the cleaning time in a cleaning step, and can perform flushing easily and quickly. The electroless plating apparatus includes a pre-plating treatment module including a pre-plating treatment tank, a plating module, and an inter-module substrate transport device. The pre-plating treatment tank is provided with a pre-plating treatment solution circulation line having a temperature control function for a pre-plating treatment solution. The plating tank is provided with a plating solution circulation line having a filter and a temperature control function for a plating solution. The plating solution circulation line is connected to a flushing line for flushing the interior of the plating solution circulation line and the interior of the plating tank.

1 . An electroless plating apparatus comprising:
 a plating tank for holding therein a plating solution while creating an upward flow of the plating solution;   a substrate holder for holding a plurality of substrates in a vertical position and parallel to each other, and immersing the substrates in the plating solution in the plating tank; and   a plurality of guide plates each for surrounding the periphery of each of the substrates, held by the substrate holder and immersed in the plating solution, and creating a flow of the plating solution around the periphery of the substrate, said flow being continuous with a flow of the plating solution flowing along a surface of the substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The electroless plating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the distance between each of the substrates held by the substrate holder and the guide plate, surrounding the periphery of the substrate, is 1 to 10 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The electroless plating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide plates are connected by a plurality of connecting plates, each connecting adjacent two guide plates and extending linearly and vertically, to form a grid-like structure. 
     
     
         4 . The electroless plating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide plates consist of lower guide plates for surrounding the peripheries of the lower halves of the substrates held by the substrate holder and immersed in the plating solution, and upper guide plates for surrounding the peripheries of the upper halves of the substrates, the lower guide plates being mounted to the substrate holder and the upper guide plates being mounted to the back surface of a lid for opening/closing the top opening of the plating tank. 
     
     
         5 . The electroless plating apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the guide plates consist of lower guide plates for surrounding the peripheries of the lower halves of the substrates held by the substrate holder and immersed in the plating solution, and upper guide plates for surrounding the peripheries of the upper halves of the substrates, the lower guide plates being mounted to an interior surface of the plating tank and the upper guide plates being mounted to the back surface of a lid for opening/closing the top opening of the plating tank.