Gasless high voltage high contact force wafer contact-cooling electrostatic chuck
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
- providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor;
placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck;
cooling the puck;
heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor;
introducing a process gas into said reactor;
applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; and
maintaining the temperature of said workpiece within a desired temperature range by controlling said chucking voltage.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of electrostatically chucking a wafer while removing heat from the wafer in a plasma reactor includes providing a polished generally continuous surface on a puck, placing the wafer on the polished surface of the puck and cooling the puck. A chucking voltage is applied to an electrode within the puck to electrostatically pull the wafer onto the surface of the puck with sufficient force to attain a selected heat transfer coefficient between contacting surfaces of the puck and wafer.
180 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; and maintaining the temperature of said workpiece within a desired temperature range by controlling said chucking voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26)
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25. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; and controlling said chucking voltage so as to minimize a difference between a measured temperature of said workpiece and a target temperature.
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27. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate between the contacting surfaces of the wafer and the puck; wherein the step of providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate comprises;
providing plural electrodes within the puck at respective radial zones; and
applying separate voltages to the respective plural electrodes so as to produce different attractive forces between the wafer and the puck in different ones of the respective radial zones.
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28. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate between the contacting surfaces of the wafer and the puck; and wherein the step of providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate comprises providing a non-uniform radial distribution of polished surface finish on the surface of the puck.
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29. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate between the contacting surfaces of the wafer and the puck; and wherein the step of providing a non-uniform radial distribution of heat transfer rate comprises providing a top surface of the puck that is one of (a) convex, (b) concave.
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30. A method of processing a workpiece in a plasma reactor, comprising:
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providing a polished surface on a puck in the reactor; placing the workpiece over the polished surface of the puck; cooling the puck; heating said workpiece by coupling RF power to plasma in said reactor; introducing a process gas into said reactor; applying a chucking voltage to a chucking electrode of the puck to pull the workpiece into direct contact with a top surface of the puck with sufficient electrostatic force to remove heat from the workpiece through directly contacting surfaces of the puck and workpiece at about the rate at which heat is deposited in the workpiece; prior to the step of placing the wafer on the top surface of the puck, depositing a seasoning layer on the interior surfaces of the reactor so as to form a puck seasoning layer on the polished puck top surface, whereby the top surface of the puck comprises said seasoning layer; wherein the step of placing the wafer on a top surface of the puck comprises placing the wafer on the puck seasoning layer whereby the wafer directly contacts said seasoning layer; during the step of applying RF power to the reactor, introducing a process gas into the reactor and carrying out plasma processing of the wafer; removing the wafer from the reactor upon completion of the plasma processing; and removing said seasoning layer from the interior surfaces of the reactor. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification