Electroplating thickness and time calculator (Faraday's law)
Plasma, vacuum, films and facilities. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to a server.
KEY POINTS
Electroplated thickness is proportional to the charge passed (Faraday's law). Copper from an acid copper sulfate bath grows at about 0.22 µm/min per 1 ASD (10 mA/cm²) at 100% current efficiency. Thickness depends on current density × time, so it helps to keep that product constant when changing conditions.
Inputs
An average over the whole wafer. Real thickness varies across the wafer with current distribution (the terminal effect that thickens the wafer edge, and local differences from pattern density). The open area ratio is the fraction of seed layer exposed by the resist pattern.
Deposition rate by metal (10 mA/cm², at the entered current efficiency)
| Metal | Deposition rate | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Copper (Cu²⁺, acid copper sulfate bath) | 0.216 µm/min | 13.0 µm/h |
| Nickel (Ni²⁺) | 0.201 µm/min | 12.0 µm/h |
| Gold (Au⁺, cyanide or sulfite) | 0.622 µm/min | 37.3 µm/h |
| Silver (Ag⁺) | 0.627 µm/min | 37.6 µm/h |
| Tin (Sn²⁺, solder bumps) | 0.496 µm/min | 29.8 µm/h |
| Cobalt (Co²⁺) | 0.202 µm/min | 12.1 µm/h |
| Palladium (Pd²⁺) | 0.270 µm/min | 16.2 µm/h |
Electroplating in semiconductor manufacturing
In electroplating, the amount of metal deposited is proportional to the charge passed (Faraday's law). Copper ions are divalent, so depositing one mole (63.5 g) takes two faradays (about 193,000 coulombs). Thickness is proportional to current density × time, so when changing conditions on the same tool it helps to keep that product constant.
Semiconductor manufacturing uses electroplating for dual-damascene copper interconnect fill, TSV filling, copper pillars and solder bumps, and redistribution layers (RDL). Bottom-up filling of fine trenches relies on additives (accelerators, suppressors and levelers), and recipes commonly step the current density in stages.
FAQ
What is 1 ASD?
One ampere per square decimeter, equal to 10 mA/cm². It is the usual unit of current density in plating.
Why is plating thicker at the wafer edge?
Current crowds toward the edge near the electrical contacts (the terminal effect), especially with thin seed layers, so production tools shape the current distribution to compensate.
Related equipment and companies
More calculators
Plasma, vacuum, films and facilities
- All semiconductor calculators
- Plasma parameter calculator (Debye length and sheath)
- Paschen's law (breakdown voltage) calculator
- Mean free path (vacuum) calculator
- Thin film stress and wafer bow calculator (Stoney equation)
- Dew point ⇔ moisture concentration (ppm) converter
- Cleanroom class calculator (ISO 14644-1)
- Lithography resolution and depth of focus calculator (Rayleigh criterion)
Last updated: October 23, 2026