Protective coating for dielectric material on wafer support used in integrated circuit processing apparatus and method of forming same
First Claim
1. In a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus wherein an aluminum wafer support has a polymeric dielectric material formed thereon to permit electrostatic clamping of a semiconductor wafer to said wafer support by electrostatic charges, the improvement which comprises:
- a protective coating of an inorganic aluminum compound of uniform thickness formed over at least portions of said polymeric dielectric material to protect said polymeric dielectric material from attack by chemicals used in processing said semiconductor wafer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Improvements in a wafer support apparatus used for electrostatic clamping of a wafer to the wafer support, and a method of making same, are disclosed wherein a dielectric material, formed on the surface of a wafer support facing the wafer to facilitate the electrostatic clamping, has a protective coating formed over the dielectric material to provide protection to the dielectric material against chemical attack from chemicals used during the processing of the semiconductor wafer. In a preferred embodiment, the protective coating comprises an aluminum compound, such as an oxide of aluminum or aluminum nitride, having a thickness ranging from about 1 micron to about 30 microns, but not exceeding about 50% of the thickness of the dielectric material so as to not interfere with the electrostatic charge used for clamping the wafer to the wafer support.
57 Citations
24 Claims
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1. In a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus wherein an aluminum wafer support has a polymeric dielectric material formed thereon to permit electrostatic clamping of a semiconductor wafer to said wafer support by electrostatic charges, the improvement which comprises:
- a protective coating of an inorganic aluminum compound of uniform thickness formed over at least portions of said polymeric dielectric material to protect said polymeric dielectric material from attack by chemicals used in processing said semiconductor wafer.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus wherein a wafer support, comprising aluminum or an aluminum alloy, has a polymeric dielectric material formed thereon to permit clamping of a semiconductor wafer to said wafer support by electrostatic charges, the improvement which comprises:
- a protective coating of uniform thickness formed over at least portions of said dielectric material, said protective coating of uniform thickness comprising an inorganic aluminum compound having a minimum coating thickness of at least about 1 micron and a maximum coating thickness of about 30 microns formed over said polymeric dielectric material to protect said polymeric dielectric material from attack by chemicals used in processing said semiconductor wafer.
- View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus wherein an aluminum wafer support has a polymeric dielectric material formed thereon to permit clamping of a semiconductor wafer to said wafer support by electrostatic charges, the improvement which comprises:
- a protective coating of uniform thickness selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide and aluminum nitride formed over at least portions of the surface of said polymeric dielectric material to protect said polymeric dielectric material from attack by chemicals used in processing said semiconductor wafer.
- View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. In a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus wherein an aluminum wafer support has formed thereon a polyimide dielectric material with an electrode embedded therein comprising an electrostatic clamping structure to permit clamping of a semiconductor wafer to said wafer support by electrostatic charges, the improvement which comprises:
- a protective coating of uniform thickness of aluminum oxide formed over at least portions of the surface of said polyimide dielectric material to protect said polyimide dielectric material from attack by chemicals used in processing said semiconductor wafer.
Specification