Enthone, a business of Cookson Electronics, has been assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,316,772 for its ViaForm® Leveler copper damascene electroplating chemistry. The product is exclusively marketed and distributed worldwide by ATMI, Inc., Danbury, CT.

Enthone, a business of Cookson Electronics, has been assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,316,772 for its ViaForm® Leveler copper damascene electroplating chemistry. The product is exclusively marketed and distributed worldwide by ATMI, Inc., Danbury, CT.

The most recent patent complements and further strengthens prior patents granted to the copper damascene electroplating process. The product reportedly is the first leveler that enables a standard, three-part additive damascene plating system. According to the company, the leveler substantially enhances copper planarity across the wafer surface.

“As device geometry continues to shrink, copper electroplating faces a number of new challenges, including void-free filling of extremely narrow and deep features, uniform plating on thin seed layers and reducing plating defects,” said Huub van Dun, president of Enthone Inc. “The continuous enhancements made to the ViaForm chemistry have enabled our customers to meet these challenges by substantially reducing surface defects while improving yields.”

For more information about Enthone, visitwww.cooksonelectronics.com. More information about ATMI can be found atwww.atmi.com.