Inventors:
Hong Shih - Walnut CA
Danny Lu - Milpitas CA
Nianci Han - San Jose CA
Li Xu - San Jose CA
Diana Ma - Saratoga CA
Assignee:
Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA
International Classification:
C02F 1461
US Classification:
2042291, 2042301, 2042307, 204272
Abstract:
A method and assembly for recovering a metal from by-products produced from etching a metal (e. g. , platinum, iridium, aluminum, etc. ) in a plasma processing chamber. The method includes recovering from the plasma processing chamber a deposit of the by-products containing the metal. The deposit is dissolved in an acid, and the metal is recovered from the acid by inserting a working electrode, a reference electrode, and a counter electrode into the acid and applying a difference in potential between the working and reference electrodes to cause current to flow through the working and counter electrodes and the metal to be removed from the liquid and deposit on the working electrode. The metal is removed from the working electrode to recover the metal. The assembly for recovering the metal from the by-products includes a potentiostat for effecting a difference in potential between the working and reference electrodes and causing current to flow through the working and counter electrodes in response to the difference in potential between the working and reference electrodes.