The Applied SlimCell ECP system provides cutting-edge copper electrochemical plating solutions with high productivity and excellent particle performance to address the technology challenges of ≤45nm development, while meeting the manufacturing requirements of 65/90nm production. Its unique, small-volume plating cell design with periodic refill eliminates chemical breakdown accumulation and other bath aging by-products, resulting in precise and predictable process control and breakthrough performance in defect reduction. With the proprietary encapsulated Thief Ring auxiliary electrode, the SlimCell ECP system delivers copper thickness profile tuning capability for excellent CMP integration and eliminates the terminal effect near the wafer’s edge for ≤45nm electrochemical plating. The latest evolution of this production-proven system, the Applied SlimCell SE continues to deliver superior copper fill performance and reliability with reduced footprint for valuable fab space savings.