Contact assemblies, electroplating machines with contact assemblies, and
methods for making contact assemblies that are used in the fabrication of microelectronic
workpieces. The contact assemblies can be wet-contact assemblies or dry-contact
assemblies. A contact assembly for use in an electroplating system can comprise
a support member and a contact system coupled to the support member. The support
member, for example, can be a ring or another structure that has an inner wall
defining an opening configured to allow the workpiece to move through the support
member along an access path. In one embodiment, the support member is a conductive
ring having a plurality of posts depending from the ring that are spaced apart
from one another by gaps. The contact system can be coupled to the posts of the
support member. The contact system can have a plurality of contact members projecting
inwardly into the opening relative to the support member and transversely with
respect to the access path. The contact members can comprise electrically conductive
biasing elements, such as fingers, that have a contact site and a dielectric coating
covering at least a portion of the biasing elements. The contact members can also
have a raised feature configured to engage the seed-layer on the workpiece for
conducting the current to the seed-layer.
