Wafer clamping apparatus and method

Abstract

The invention provides a wafer clamping apparatus and method for use in semiconductor processing. The apparatus includes a clamping component that holds a backside of the wafer to a supporting surface and cools the wafer to prevent overheating. The clamping component is a chemical compound, such as H2O, that covers at least a section of the supporting surface and can adhere the backside of the wafer to the supporting surface. The component undergoes one or more phase-changes (e.g., liquid to solid, solid to liquid, etc.) to facilitate various operations throughout the process. The phase-changes ensure that the wafer may be easily loaded onto and released from the supporting structure at the beginning and end of the process, respectively, while being securely held and cooled during the process. The wafer clamp is suitable for use in a number of semiconductor processes, including ion implantation, and is particularly useful in processes that require wafer cooling such as ion implantation processes that have high implant energies, long implant times, high implant doses, or combinations thereof.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.