Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Ulvac, Inc.

Kazuhiro Yamamuro

Kyuzo Nakamura

Junpei Yuyama

Seiichi Sato

Mitsuru Yahagi

Michio Ishikawa

Masashi Kikuchi

Takafumi Noguchi

Kazuyuki Tomizawa

A wafer stage includes an electrostatic chuck (ESC) plate, an upper supporting plate, a lower supporting plate and a temperature controller. The ESC plate includes a first surface that supports a wafer. The upper supporting plate is bonded to a second surface of the ESC plate opposite to the first surface. The lower supporting plate overlaps the upper supporting plate. The temperature controller is disposed between the upper supporting plate and the lower supporting plate. The ESC plate includes ceramics. The upper supporting plate includes a composite material of aluminum or aluminum alloy and ceramics or carbon. The ESC plate and the upper supporting plate are directly bonded to each other by a room temperature solid bonding process. Thus, the wafer stage has sufficient strength to withstand pressure differences between a vacuum and atmospheric pressure, improved temperature response by minimizing heat capacity, and prevents warpage of the ESC plate.

Wafer stage and method of manufacturing the same

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Kazuhiro Yamamuro