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:
Oct. 22, 1996
Filed:
Nov. 19, 1993
Kouichi Kazama, Yamanashi-ken, JP;
Mitsuaki Komino, Tokyo, JP;
Kenji Ishikawa, Sagamihara, JP;
Yoichi Ueda, Yokohama, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A susceptor of a plasma etching apparatus is arranged on a heater fixing frame incorporating a heater. The fixing frame is arranged on a cooling block containing liquid nitrogen. A boundary clearance is formed between the fixed frame and the cooling block and on a heat transfer path. A method of controlling the temperature of the susceptor includes an initialization mode, an idle mode following the initialization mode, process and maintenance modes selectively following the idle mode. The initialization mode includes the steps of filling the boundary clearance with a heat transfer gas and observing a change in temperature of the susceptor caused by cold transferred from the cooling block. The idle mode is executed after the temperature of the susceptor reaches a predetermined temperature. The idle mode includes the step of exhausting the boundary clearance to set it in a vacuum state to sever the heat transfer path. The process mode includes the steps of filling the boundary clearance with the heat transfer gas and processing a semiconductor wafer on the susceptor. The maintenance mode includes the steps of keeping the vacuum state of the boundary clearance to sever the heat transfer path and performing maintenance.