Film adhesive for semiconductor vacuum processing apparatus

A method of joining an assembly for use in a plasma processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:

• applying a first surface of a sheet of uncured elastomeric adhesive in a predetermined pattern to at least one load bearing surface of a support member in a predetermined pattern of regions to be bonded which exclude regions to remain unbonded;
• applying at least one bonding surface of a component to a second surface of the sheet of uncured elastomeric adhesive in a predetermined pattern of regions to be bonded, the component having at least one other surface to be exposed to a plasma;
• and
• bonding the at least one bonding surface of the component to the at least one load bearing surface of the support member with the sheet of elastomeric adhesive therebetween to form the assembly.

A component assembly for reducing particle contamination during plasma processing of semiconductor substrates, the component assembly comprising:

• a support member of a plasma processing chamber having at least one load bearing surface to support a component;
• the component supported on the at least one load bearing surface having at least one surface to be exposed to a plasma;
• and
• an uncured elastomeric sheet adhesive to be cured in a joint between mating surfaces of the at least one load bearing surface and the component to allow movement of the component relative to the support member due to mismatch of thermal expansion of the support member and the component after curing,
• wherein the sheet of elastomeric adhesive is a filled, heat-curable, unvulcanized elastomeric silicone sheet.