Electrostatic chuck electrical balancing circuit repair
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsRobert T. Hirahara, Vijay D. Parkhe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention includes methods and apparatus for repairing an electrical connection between bipolar electrodes contained within an electrostatic chuck and a conductive mask disposed atop the electrostatic chuck, known as a balancing circuit. Embodiments of the invention are particularly useful after removal of an electrostatic chuck for refurbishment.
Claims17
A substrate support assembly, comprising:
- an electrostatic chuck having an electrode embedded therein and having an aperture disposed therethrough;
- a conductive liner disposed on the surface of the electrostatic chuck within the aperture;
- a conductive tubing extending from a lower surface of the electrostatic chuck and axially aligned with the aperture;
- and
- a conductive insert at least partially within the aperture and at least partially within the conductive tubing, wherein the conductive insert provides a conductive path between the conductive liner and the conductive tubing.
A method for repairing a severed electrical connection within a balancing circuit of an electrostatic chuck assembly, comprising:
- determining the resistance between a substrate spacing mask disposed on the upper surface of an electrostatic chuck and a conductive tubing extending from the lower surface of the electrostatic chuck and axially aligned with a metallically lined aperture extending through the electrostatic chuck;
- evaluating the determined resistance to determine whether the electrical connection between the conductive conduit and the substrate mask has been severed;
- and
- repairing the severed connection by restoring a conductive path between the conductive tubing and the substrate spacing mask by using a welding technique to re-melt and re-fuse conductive material located between the metallically lined aperture and the conductive tubing, wherein the welding technique is selected from the list consisting of electron beam welding, laser welding, and micro plasma welding.
A method for repairing a severed electrical connection within a balancing circuit of an electrostatic chuck assembly, comprising:
- determining the resistance between a substrate spacing mask disposed on the upper surface of an electrostatic chuck and a conductive tubing extending from the lower surface of the electrostatic chuck and axially aligned with a metallically lined aperture extending through the electrostatic chuck;
- evaluating the determined resistance to determine whether the electrical connection between the conductive conduit and the substrate mask has been severed;
- and
- placing a conductive insert into the aperture to repair the severed connection and restore a conductive path between the conductive tubing and the substrate spacing mask.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.