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US 12,512,338 B2Granted
Heater lift assembly spring damper
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsKai-Wen Wu, Chun-Ta Chen, Chin-Shen Hsieh, Cheng-Yi Huang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an embodiment, an apparatus comprising: a heater configured to heat a wafer located on a wafer staging area of the heater, the heater comprising a heater shaft extending below the wafer staging area; and a heater lift assembly comprising: a lift shaft configured to move the heater shaft in a vertical direction; a clamp that connects the heater shaft to the lift shaft; and a damper disposed on top of the clamp.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a heater configured to heat a wafer disposed on a top surface of the heater;
- and
- a heater lift assembly comprising:
- a lift shaft coupled to the heater and configured to move the heater in a vertical direction;
- a clamp that couples the heater to the lift shaft such that rotational motion of the lift shaft moves the heater in the vertical direction;
- and
- a damper disposed on a top surface of the clamp, wherein the damper comprises an elastic spring that comprises an elastic material,
- wherein the elastic spring comprises a flexible spring portion having a width that is greater than a width of a contact structure disposed over the elastic spring, wherein the flexible spring portion is configured to contact the elastic spring when the clamp is moved to a vertical location.
5 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- an enclosure configured to process a wafer therein;
- a heater disposed within the enclosure, the heater configured to support and heat the wafer;
- and
- a heater lift assembly comprising:
- a lift shaft coupled to the heater and configured to move the heater in a vertical direction;
- a clamp that couples the heater to the lift shaft such that rotational motion of the lift shaft moves the heater in the vertical direction;
- and
- a damper disposed on top of the clamp, wherein the damper is configured to engage a contact structure extending downwardly from within the enclosure when the clamp is moved toward a maximum vertical location, wherein the damper comprises an elastic material.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a damper on a clamp of a wafer processing apparatus, wherein the clamp couples a lift shaft to a heater, wherein the lift shaft is configured to move the heater in a vertical direction, and wherein the damper comprises an elastic spring comprising an elastic material;
- lowering the heater to a lowered position;
- receiving the wafer at the lowered position;
- raising the heater to a raised position, wherein the damper is configured to damp impacts due to raising the heater;
- and
- processing the wafer at the raised position,
- wherein the elastic spring comprise two opposing rigid ends that sandwich the elastic material.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.