Micromachined silicon electrostatic chuck
An electrostatic chuck is faced with a patterned silicon plate, created by micromachining a silicon wafer, which is attached to a metallic base plate. Direct electrical contact between the chuck face (patterned silicon plate`s surface) and the silicon wafer it is intended to hold is prevented by a pattern of flat-topped silicon dioxide islands that protrude less than 5 micrometers from the otherwise flat surface of the chuck face. The islands may be formed in any shape. Islands may be about 10 micrometers in diameter or width and spaced about 100 micrometers apart. One or more concentric rings formed around the periphery of the area between the chuck face and wafer contain a low-pressure helium thermal-contact gas used to assist heat removal during plasma etching of a silicon wafer held by the chuck. The islands are tall enough and close enough together to prevent silicon-to-silicon electrical contact in the space between the islands, and the islands occupy only a small fraction of the total area of the chuck face, typically 0.5 to 5 percent. The pattern of the islands, together with at least one hole bored through the silicon veneer into the base plate, will provide sufficient gas-flow space to allow the distribution of the helium thermal-contact gas. 6 figs.
- Research Organization:
- AT&T
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- Assignee:
- Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- Patent Number(s):
- US 5,583,736/A/
- Application Number:
- PAN: 8-341,089
- OSTI ID:
- 415766
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 10 Dec 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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