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:
Jul. 08, 1997
Filed:
Jul. 15, 1994
Shamouil Shamouilian, San Jose, CA (US);
Samuel Broydo, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
Manoocher Birang, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A multi-electrode electrostatic chuck (20) for holding a substrate (42) such as a silicon wafer during processing is described. The electrostatic chuck (20) comprises (i) a first electrode (22), (ii) a second electrode (24), and (iii) an insulator (26) having a lower portion (26a), a middle portion (26b) and an upper portion (26c). The lower portion (26a) of the insulator (26) is below the first electrode (22) and has a bottom surface (28) suitable for resting the chuck (20) on a support (44) in a process chamber (41). The middle portion (26b) of the insulator (26) lies between the first and second electrodes (22), (24). The upper portion (26c) of the insulator (26) is on the second electrode (24), and has a top surface (30) suitable for holding a substrate (42). The first and second electrodes (22, 24) can have a unipolar or bipolar configurations. In operation, the chuck (20) is placed on a support (44) in a process chamber (41) so that the bottom surface (28) of the chuck (20) rests on the support (44). A substrate (42) is placed on the top surface (30) of the chuck (20). When the first electrode (22) of the chuck (20) is electrically biased with respect to the support (44), a first electrostatic force holds the chuck (20) onto the support (44). When the second electrode (24) of the chuck (20) is electrically biased with respect to the substrate (42) placed on the chuck (20), a second electrostatic force holds the substrate (42) to the chuck (20).