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:
Aug. 20, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 11, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
Ling Chen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Joseph Yudovsky, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ying Yu, Cupertino, CA (US);
Lawrence C. Lei, Milpitas, CA (US);
Assignee:
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C23C 1/600 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
C23C 1/600 ;
Abstract
A method for aligning a wafer on a support member within a vacuum chamber includes increasing the pressure within the vacuum chamber to at least about 1 Torr before aligning the wafer. The wafer is introduced into the vacuum chamber on the support member, the pressure is increased to at least about one Torr, and the support member is lifted into a shadow ring that has a frustoconical inner cavity constructed to funnel the wafer to a centered, aligned position.