The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 23, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 11, 2024
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Ronald Nasman, Albany, NY (US);
Peter D'Elia, Albany, NY (US);
Shan Hu, Albany, NY (US);
James Grootegoed, Albany, NY (US);
Rodney Robison, Albany, NY (US);
Anton Devilliers, Albany, NY (US);
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Improved wafer chuck designs and methods are provided herein for retaining a processing liquid on a surface of a semiconductor substrate during a puddle process. More specifically, the present disclosure provides various embodiments of wafer chucks that reshape a surface of a semiconductor substrate to ensure that the substrate surface is concave (or completely flat) before a processing liquid is dispensed onto the substrate surface to form a puddle of the processing liquid on the substrate surface. By providing the substrate surface with a concave (or completely flat) shape, the embodiments disclosed herein provide complete chemical coverage across the substrate surface during a puddle process, retain the puddle on the substrate surface and prevent the puddle from spilling over the substrate edge.