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. 14, 1997
Filed:
Nov. 22, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Keiichi Harashima, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Akimoto, Tokyo, JP;
Assignee:
Nec Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H02N / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
361234 ; 156345 ; 1187 / ; 279128 ;
Abstract
An electrostatic chuck applicable to, e.g., an epitaxial apparatus or an etching apparatus for electrostatically chucking a semiconductor substrate or wafer is disclosed. The chuck includes a stage for electrostatically retaining the wafer thereon. A plurality of lift pins are elevatable to thrust up the wafer. A plurality of release pins are arranged on the stage for thrusting up the peripheral portion of the wafer. A plurality of drive mechanisms respectively thrust up the release pins stepwise within the allowable elastic deformation range of the wafer. A control device selectively actuates the release pins via the associated drive mechanisms.