Ulvac Techno, Ltd.

Katsunori Fujii

Masanori Ito

Yasushi Iwata

A substrate lifting apparatus LM according to this invention is built into a stage ST having, on an upper surface, an electrostatic chuck EC for attracting a to-be-processed substrate W hands over the to-be-processed substrate to and from the stage has: lifting pins which are moveable upward and downward between a hidden position in which the lifting pins lie hidden into the stage, and a protruded position protruding upward from the upper surface of the stage; and a driving means for moving the lifting pins upward and downward. The driving means is arranged to be able to stop the upward movement of the lifting pins in an intermediate position in the course of moving the lifting pins upward from the hidden position to the protruded position.

Substrate lifting apparatus and substrate transferring method

The power supply apparatus for the electrostatic chuck of this invention has: DC power source units for applying DC voltage to electrodes of the electrostatic chuck; and an AC power source unit for causing AC current to flow through an electrostatic capacitance of the electrostatic chuck. Provided that: a circuit for charging an electrode, from DC power source unit, with chuck voltage in order to attract and hold in position the to-be-processed substrate with the electrostatic chuck, be defined as a first circuit and that; a circuit for clearing charges of the to-be-processed substrate be defined as a second circuit, the power supply apparatus further includes switching means for switching between the first circuit and the second circuit. The second circuit is provided with an AC power source unit and a voltmeter for measuring AC voltage.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Katsunori Fujii