# US 2021/0243846 A1 · Ceramic heater

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- Number: US 2021/0243846 A1
- Document ID: US20210243846A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/132,416
- Filed: 2020-12-23
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-02-03
- Assignees: Ngk Insulators, Ltd.
- Applicants: Ngk Insulators, Ltd.
- Inventors: Noboru KAJIHARA; Shuichiro MOTOYAMA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210243846A1

## CPC

- H05B 3/143: {applied to semiconductors, e.g. wafers heating (H05B3/0047 takes precedence)}
- H05B 3/283: {the insulating material being an inorganic material, e.g. ceramic}
- H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

A ceramic heater includes a ceramic plate having a surface that serves as a wafer placement surface, resistance heating elements that are embedded in the ceramic plate, a tubular shaft that supports the ceramic plate from a rear surface of the ceramic plate, a recess that is formed in a within-shaft region of the rear surface of the ceramic plate, the within-shaft region being surrounded by the tubular shaft, and terminals that are disposed to be exposed at a side surface of the recess and that supply electric power to the resistance heating element.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A ceramic heater comprising:
a ceramic plate having a surface that serves as a wafer placement surface;
a resistance heating element that is embedded in the ceramic plate;
a tubular shaft that supports the ceramic plate from a rear surface of the ceramic plate;
a recess that is formed in a within-shaft region of the rear surface of the ceramic plate, the within-shaft region being surrounded by the tubular shaft; and
terminals that are disposed to be exposed at a side surface of the recess and that supply electric power to the resistance heating element.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The ceramic heater according to claim 1,
wherein the recess has a size equal to a size of the within-shaft region.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The ceramic heater according to claim 1,
wherein the resistance heating element is disposed for each of a plurality of zones obtained by dividing the wafer placement surface, the terminals of some of the resistance heating elements disposed in the plurality of zones are disposed to be exposed at the side surface of the recess, and the terminals of the remaining resistance heating elements are disposed in the within-shaft region of the rear surface of the ceramic plate.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The ceramic heater according to claim 1,
wherein the resistance heating element includes an inner-peripheral-side resistance heating element disposed in an inner-peripheral-side zone of the wafer placement surface and an outer-peripheral-side resistance heating element disposed in an outer-peripheral-side zone of the wafer placement surface, the terminals of the outer-peripheral-side resistance heating element are disposed to be exposed at the side surface of the recess, and the terminals of the inner-peripheral-side resistance heating element are disposed to be exposed at the within-shaft region of the rear surface of the ceramic plate.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The ceramic heater according to claim 1,
wherein the side surface of the recess is located at a position visually recognizable from an end portion side of the tubular shaft.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The ceramic heater according to claim 1, further comprising power feeder members that are connected to the terminals and that are arranged in an inner space of the tubular shaft.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The ceramic heater according to claim 6,
wherein the power feeder members connected to the terminals exposed at the side surface are each formed in a shape following an inner wall of the tubular shaft.