Pick-up chuck with gas bearing structure
AssigneeAsmpt Singapore Pte. Ltd.
InventorsSuribabu Cheliboni, Ka Shing Kwan, Naveen Kumar Gupta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pick-up chuck for handling a substrate has a chuck body defining a support surface, a gas relay aperture for transmitting a gas, a vacuum aperture portion configured in use to generate a vacuum force to pick up the substrate, and a flow of said gas through the gas relay aperture onto the said support surface towards the vacuum aperture portion. A gas bearing structure arranged on said support surface is shaped to provide a gas bearing between the substrate and said support surface by utilizing the flow of said gas between the gas relay aperture and the vacuum aperture portion.
Claims18
A pick-up chuck for handling a substrate, comprising a chuck body defining:
- a support surface;
- a gas relay aperture for transmitting a gas, the gas relay aperture being located at a central region of the chuck body and surrounded by the support surface;
- a vacuum aperture portion at least partially surrounding the support surface configured in use to generate a vacuum force to pick up the substrate, and a flow of the gas through the gas relay aperture onto the support surface towards the vacuum aperture portion;
- and
- a gas bearing structure located between the gas relay aperture and the vacuum aperture portion arranged on the support surface and shaped to provide a gas bearing between the substrate and the support surface utilizing the flow of the gas from the gas relay aperture to the vacuum aperture portion.
A method for handling a substrate comprising:
- providing a pick-up chuck for handling a substrate comprising a chuck body defining a support surface, a gas relay aperture located at a central region of the chuck body and surrounded by the support surface, a vacuum aperture portion at least partially surrounding the support surface, and a gas bearing structure located between the gas relay aperture and the vacuum aperture portion arranged on the support surface and shaped to provide a gas bearing between the substrate and the support surface;
- generating a vacuum force using the vacuum aperture portion to draw a gas through the gas relay aperture, onto the support surface from the gas relay aperture to the vacuum aperture portion which flows over the gas bearing structure to provide the gas bearing between the substrate and the support surface;
- and
- picking up the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.