Bowed substrate clamping method, apparatus, and system

A system for clamping a substrate, comprising,

• a substrate support having a surface for supporting a substrate;
• a plurality of electrodes spaced from one another in or on the substrate support, the plurality of electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode;
• and
• a controller configured to receive a measurement of substrate bow of a substrate and to determine, based on the substrate bow, a first voltage to be applied to the first electrode and a second voltage to be applied to the second electrode, and apply the first voltage to the first electrode and the second voltage to the second electrode, wherein the first voltage is an AC voltage and the second voltage is an AC or DC voltage,
• wherein the controller is configured to optimize substrate bow of the substrate by repeatedly receiving a measurement of substrate bow, determining the first voltage and the second voltage, and reapplying the first voltage and the second voltage based on the received measurements of substrate bow, and
• wherein the substrate bow of the substrate is determined to be optimized when at least one of variation in clamp pressure or heat transfer flux are minimized.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a system for clamping a substrate having a substrate support with a plurality of electrodes spaced from one another including a first electrode and a second electrode, performs a method of clamping a substrate comprising:

• i. placing a substrate on a clamping surface of a substrate support having a plurality of spaced electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode;
• ii. measuring substrate bow of the substrate;
• iii. determining, based on the measured substrate bow, a first voltage to be applied to the first electrode and a second voltage to be applied to the second electrode, wherein the first voltage is an AC voltage and the second voltage is an AC or DC voltage;
• iv. applying the first voltage to the first electrode and the second voltage to the second electrode;
• repeating ii, iii, and iv until substrate bow of the substrate is determined to be optimized,
• wherein the substrate bow of the substrate is determined to be optimized when at least one of variation in clamp pressure or heat transfer flux are minimized.