Electrostatic chuck for high power plasma processing

An electrostatic chuck for holding and gas cooling a substrate during processing in a plasma reaction chamber, said chuck comprising:

• a pedestal having an upper surface;
• and
• a layer of dielectric material formed on the upper surface of said pedestal, said dielectric layer having a top surface for receiving a backside of said substrate when said substrate is placed on said chuck;
• said pedestal having one or more internal cavities for distributing a cooling gas, each of said one or more internal cavities having an upper end that is adjacent to said dielectric layer, there being a layer of pedestal material separating each of said one or more cavities from said dielectric layer;
• wherein for each of said one or more internal cavities, said dielectric layer has a plurality of first holes passing therethrough, and the associated thin layer of pedestal material has an equal number of second holes passing therethrough and aligned with corresponding ones of said plurality of first holes,
• wherein said first holes have a first diameter that is less than about 0.030 inch.

An electrostatic chuck for holding and gas cooling a substrate during processing in a plasma reaction chamber, said chuck comprising:

• a pedestal having a metallic upper surface;
• and
• a layer of dielectric material formed on the upper surface of said pedestal, said dielectric layer having a network of cooling gas distribution grooves formed therein, the grooves of said network of gas distribution grooves penetrating said dielectric layer to a distance that is less than the thickness of the dielectric layer and the upper surface of the pedestal beneath the network of grooves being smooth;
• said pedestal having one or more internal cavities for distributing a cooling gas, each of said internal cavities having an upper end that is separated from said dielectric layer by a layer of pedestal material;
• there being for each of said internal cooling gas cavities, one or more perforations passing through said dielectric layer and the underlying layer of pedestal material and connecting that internal cooling gas cavity with one or more of the grooves of said network of gas distribution grooves.

An electrostatic chuck for holding and gas cooling a substrate during processing in a plasma reaction chamber, said chuck comprising:

• a pedestal having a metallic upper surface and an underside;
• and
• a layer of dielectric material formed on the upper surface of said pedestal, said dielectric layer having a top surface and a dense network of cooling gas distribution grooves formed therein, said dense network of grooves covering most of a region of the top surface of the dielectric layer that coincides with the backside of the substrate when said substrate is being held on said electrostatic chuck,
• said pedestal including an internal cooling gas distribution network connected to said network of gas distribution grooves for distributing cooling gas thereto,
• said pedestal and dielectric layer having a plurality of lift pin holes passing therethrough, said plurality of lift pin holes extending from the underside of said pedestal to the upper surface of said dielectric layer and providing passages through which lift pins can pass to lift the substrate off of the pedestal, said lift pin holes located within said region, and
• wherein a first annular area surrounds each of said plurality of lift pin holes, said top surface of said dielectric layer being smooth and free of grooves within said first annular areas so as to aid in forming a seal around each of said plurality of lift pin holes when said substrate is held on said electrostatic chuck during processing.