Method and apparatus for conditioning an electrostatic chuck

Abstract

A method and apparatus for discharging a residual charge from an electrostatic chuck having one or more electrodes. The discharge process involves exposing a surface of the electrostatic chuck to non-ionized radiation such as photons or microwaves. The discharge apparatus includes a radiation source as part of a semiconductor wafer processing system controlled by a computer. The source of radiation may be lamps such as “bakeout” lamps that are generally located within the process chamber. Radiation from the lamps excite certain dopant atoms within the chuck material causing the material to exhibit the photoconductive effect. Such a photoconductive state allows any residual charge on the surface of the chuck to be conducted away through the chuck electrodes even as the chuck cools to temperatures that do not promote such charge migration.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.