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US 6,634,882 B2Granted
Susceptor pocket profile to improve process performance
AssigneeASM America, Inc.
InventorMatthew G. Goodman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeASM America, Inc.
InventorMatthew G. Goodman
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method to position a wafer onto a wafer holder and to maintain a uniform wafer temperature is disclosed. The wafer holder or susceptor comprises a recess or pocket whose surface is concave and includes a grid containing a plurality of grid grooves separating protrusions. The concavity and grid grooves define an enclosed flow volume between a supported wafer and the susceptor surface, as well as an escape area, or total cross-sectional area of the grid grooves opening out from under the periphery of the wafer. These are chosen to reduce the wafer slide and curl during wafer drop-off and wafer stick during wafer pick-up, while improving thermal uniformity and reducing particle problems. In another embodiment, centering locators in the form of thin, radially placed protrusions are provided around the edge of the susceptor pocket to reduce further the possibility of contact between the wafer and the outer edge of the susceptor. These features help to achieve temperature uniformity, and therefore quality of the process result, across the wafer during processing.
A substrate holder comprising a concave support surface configured to underlie a supported substrate, the support surface defined by tops of a plurality of protrusions, the protrusions separated by a plurality of crossing grid grooves, the support surface having a concavity, the concavity of the support surface defining a pocket of between about 0.130 mm and 0.500 mm in depth measured from a top surface of a peripheral grid protrusion of the support surface to a central grid protrusion within the support surface.
A substrate holder-comprising a concave support surface configured to underlie a supported substrate, the support surface defined by tops of a plurality of protrusions, the protrusions separated by a plurality of crossing grid grooves, the support surface having a concavity, the concavity of the support surface defining a pocket of between about 0.130 mm and 0.500 mm in depth measured from a peripheral grid protrusion of the support surface to a central grid protrusion within the support surface, wherein for a flat 200-mm substrate supported upon the holder, a total enclosed flow volume, consisting of a volume between the substrate and the support surface and a volume within the grid grooves in the support surface, is between about 1.4×10−5 m3 and 1.6×10−5 m3.
A susceptor with a recessed pocket for holding a 150-mm semiconductor wafer in a high temperature reaction chamber, the pocket having a concave and gridded bottom surface with protrusions extending therefrom, wherein a top of a central protrusion of a support surface is lower than a top of a perimeter protrusion of the support surface, comprising a total enclosed flow volume between the wafer and bottom of the gridded surface greater than 7.5×10−6 m3.
A susceptor with a recessed pocket for holding a semiconductor wafer with a diameter greater than or equal to 200 mm in a high temperature reaction chamber, the pocket having a curved surface with concavity and a grid, comprising a total enclosed flow volume between the wafer and bottom of the grid of between about 1.3×10−5 m3 and 6.0×10−5 m3.
A holder for a generally flat substrate comprising an annular shoulder with a shoulder upper surface surrounding a recess sized larger than the substrate, the recess having a recess upper surface with a curved shape and a grid of grooves extending into the recess upper surface and also comprising a plurality of centering locators arranged along an inside circumference of the annular shoulder to establish a distance between the substrate and the annular shoulder, thereby preventing direct thermal contact between the shoulder and the substrate, each centering locator having an inner edge that is arranged along a circle that defines a space for receiving the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.