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US 2001/0011637 A1Published application
Compliant wafer chuck
AssigneeMattson Technology, Inc.
InventorJoseph Wytman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compliant wafer chuck for supporting a substrate in which an upper body of the chuck is allowed to tilt relative to the base.
Claims20
An apparatus for supporting a substrate thereon comprising:
- a base having a rigid frame for forming a lower portion of a chuck;
- an upper body residing atop said base for having the substrate reside on its surface, but in which said upper body is coupled flexibly to said base to allow said upper body to tilt relative to said base.
An apparatus for supporting a wafer thereon comprising:
- a chuck base having a rigid frame for forming a lower portion of a wafer chuck;
- a chuck body residing atop said chuck base for having the wafer reside thereon;
- a flexible coupling disposed between said chuck base and said chuck body to allow said chuck body to tilt relative to said chuck base.
A wafer processing chamber comprising:
- a sleeve for forming an enclosing vessel to retain a processing fluid therein;
- a wafer chuck for having a wafer resident thereon and when coupled to enclose a bottom opening of said sleeve, the sleeve engages an outer periphery of the wafer in order for the wafer to form an enclosing floor to retain the processing fluid within the vessel;
- said wafer chuck comprising:
- (1) a chuck base having a rigid frame and forming a lower portion of said wafer chuck;
- (2) a chuck body residing atop said chuck base for having the wafer reside thereon;
- (3) a flexible coupling disposed between said chuck base and said chuck body to allow said chuck body to tilt relative to said chuck base.
3 more elements
A method of processing a wafer comprising:
- placing a wafer atop a wafer chuck, the chuck having a base and an upper body in which the upper body is coupled to the base by a flexible coupling that allows the upper portion to tilt relative to the base;
- engaging the wafer to a hollow sleeve which forms an enclosing vessel to retain a processing fluid therein, the wafer forming a floor of the vessel;
- processing the wafer utilizing the processing fluid and in which tilting of the wafer allows for a compliant engagement of the wafer and the sleeve to adjust for gaps present at the engagement to prevent or reduce leakage of the processing fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.