Electrostatic chuck with internal flow adjustments for improved temperature distribution

An apparatus comprising:

• a dielectric puck to electrostatically grip a silicon wafer;
• a top plate of a cooling plate, the top plate being fastened to the dielectric puck;
• a middle plate of a cooling plate the middle plate having a plurality of adjustable orifices and defining a plurality of coolant chambers between the middle plate and the top plate, the coolant chambers each being in communication with at least one orifice to allow coolant to flow through the middle plate to a respective coolant chamber;
• a bottom plate of a cooling plate, the bottom plate defining a supply plenum between the bottom plate and the middle plate to supply coolant to the orifices;
• and
• wherein a flow rate through each orifice is independently adjustable to control coolant flow through each respective one of the orifices.

A method for adjusting coolant flow in an electrostatic chuck, the method comprising:

• heating a dielectric puck, the dielectric puck being for electrostatically gripping a silicon wafer;
• detecting heat at a plurality of locations on a top surface of the dielectric puck, the locations each being thermally coupled to at least one of a plurality of coolant chambers of the electrostatic chuck;
• and
• adjusting a plurality of orifices within the electrostatic chuck that are each coupled to a respective one of the coolant chambers to control coolant flow into the coolant chambers based on the detected heat.