Sensitivity enhancement for quantitative electrochemical determination of a trace amount of accelerator in copper plating solutions

An accelerator is an indispensable organic additive for the bottom-up filling of copper electroplating in nano- or micro-scale features. However, its effective concentration is too low to be easily determined and controlled. Herein, a new electrochemical analysis method based on self-assembly monolayers of thiol molecules on a gold electrode was developed to accurately determine a trace amount of accelerator. The accelerator employed in copper plating solutions is bis-(3-sulfopropyl) disulfide (SPS), which is the most common accelerator for the filling of vias and trenches of interconnects. The SPS concentration in copper plating solutions ranged from 0.3 to 9.0 ppm. Following selective chemisorption of SPS onto the gold electrode, the SPS-modified gold electrode was transferred into a specific electrolyte composed of CuSO ₄, H₂SO₄, polyethylene glycol and chloride ions to run cyclic voltammetry (CV) for copper deposition and stripping. A specific peak current of copper reduction formed in the CV, and its peak area depended on the SPS concentration in the copper plating solution. A good linear calibration line was obtained by using this electrochemical analysis method, which can determine a trace amount of SPS in a concentration range of 0.3-1.0 ppm, which is a significant challenge for traditional instruments.