Electrostatic chuck assembly

An electrostatic support system for supporting a wafer comprising;

• a support body positionable in a processing chamber and having a support surface for retaining said wafer, said support surface having a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes formed therethrough, said support body including protective means for preventing catastrophic separation of said wafer from said support surface;
• a voltage source coupled to said support surface for electrostatically coupling said wafer to said support surface;
• a cooling system for cooling said wafer, said cooling system including a source of a gaseous substance, a plurality of gas distribution grooves formed in said support surface and configured for uniformly distributing a gaseous substance between said wafer and said support surface, and a conduit connecting said gas source to said gas distribution grooves for flow of said gaseous substance from said gas source to said gas distribution grooves, said conduit including a plurality of passageways each coupled to one of said holes extending through said support surface;
• a lifting mechanism for moving said wafer relative to said support surface, said lifting mechanism including a plurality of vertically extending lifting pins each extending through a different one of said holes formed through said support surface, said lifting pins being movable relative to said support surface between an extended position with said lifting pins extending through said hole in said support surface for supporting said wafer above said support surface and a retracted position with said lifting pins retracted beneath said support surface;
• said conduit including an inner plenum coupled to said gas source and an outer plenum coupled to said gas distribution grooves, and said protective means including means for restricting the flow of said gaseous substance between said inner plenum and said outer plenum.

An electrostatic support system for supporting a wafer comprising:

• a support body positionable in a processing chamber and having a support surface for retaining said wafer, said support surface having a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes formed therethrough,
• a voltage source coupled to said support surface for electrostatically coupling said wafer to said support surface,
• a cooling system for cooling said wafer, said cooling system including a source of a gaseous substance, a plurality of gas distribution grooves formed in said support surface and configured for uniformly distributing a gaseous substance between said wafer and said support surface, and a conduit connecting said gas source to said gas distribution grooves for flow of said gaseous substance from said gas source to said gas distribution grooves, said conduit including a plurality of passageways each coupled to one of said holes extending through said support surface, each of said passageways is formed with at least one flow restriction for restricting the flow of said gaseous substance between said gas distribution grooves and said gas source, and
• a lifting mechanism for moving said wafer relative to said support surface, said lifting mechanism including a plurality of vertically extending lifting pins each extending through a different one of said holes formed through said support surface, said lifting pins being movable relative to said support surface between an extended position with said lifting pins extending through said hole in said support surface for supporting said wafer above said support surface and a retracted position with said lifting pins retracted beneath said support surface.