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US 2026/0082847 A1Published application
Heater lift assembly spring damper
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsKai-Wen WU, Chun-Ta CHEN, Chin-Shen HSIEH, Cheng-Yi HUANG
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an embodiment, an apparatus comprising: a heater configured to heat a wafer located on a wafer staging area of the heater, the heater comprising a heater shaft extending below the wafer staging area; and a heater lift assembly comprising: a lift shaft configured to move the heater shaft in a vertical direction; a clamp that connects the heater shaft to the lift shaft; and a damper disposed on top of the clamp.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a heater configured to heat a wafer disposed on a top surface of the heater;
- and
- a heater lift assembly comprising:
- a lift shaft coupled to the heater and configured to move the heater in a vertical direction;
- a clamp that couples the heater to the lift shaft such that rotational motion of the lift shaft moves the heater in the vertical direction;
- and
- a damper disposed on a top surface of the clamp, wherein the damper comprises an elastic spring that comprises an elastic material, wherein the elastic spring comprises a flexible spring portion having a width that is greater than a width of a contact structure disposed over the elastic spring, wherein the flexible spring portion is configured to contact the contact structure in instances in which the clamp is moved to a vertical location.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- an enclosure configured to process a wafer therein;
- a heater disposed within the enclosure, the heater configured to support and heat the wafer;
- and
- a heater lift assembly comprising:
- a lift shaft coupled to the heater and configured to move the heater in a vertical direction;
- a clamp that couples the heater to the lift shaft such that rotational motion of the lift shaft moves the heater in the vertical direction;
- and
- a damper disposed on top of the clamp, wherein the damper is configured to engage a contact structure extending downwardly from within the enclosure in instances in which the clamp is moved toward a maximum vertical location, wherein the damper comprises an elastic material filled in between a biasable top piece and a flexible spring portion spine.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a damper on a clamp of a wafer processing apparatus, wherein the clamp couples a lift shaft to a heater, wherein the lift shaft is configured to move the heater in a vertical direction, and wherein the damper comprises an elastic spring comprising an elastic material;
- lowering the heater to a lowered position;
- receiving the wafer at the lowered position;
- raising the heater to a raised position, wherein the damper is configured to damp impacts due to raising the heater;
- and
- processing the wafer at the raised position, wherein the elastic spring comprises two opposing rigid ends that sandwich the elastic material, and wherein the elastic spring comprises elastic material filled in between a biasable top piece and a flexible spring portion spine.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.