Method for removing contamination from a chuck surface
US10792778B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 9, 2016 |
| Grant date | Oct 6, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 16, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/67092
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method for decontaminating support surfaces of a wafer chuck, such as a wafer chuck, entails lightly passing a treatment tool having a nominally flat contacting surface over the regions of the chuck where contaminants are to be removed. The treatment tool and the chuck surface may have about the same hardness. The treatment tool may be minimally constrained so that it may conform to the surface being processed. When the treatment tool is contacted to a flat surface, the locust of contact may be in the form of a circle, ring or annulus. At higher application pressures, the treatment tool will abrade the chuck, which here is to be avoided, or at least minimized. Thus, the instant inventors have discovered that the same treatment tool that is used to engineer the elevation or profile of the surface, and its roughness, at lower application pressures can be used to remove grinding debris and other contaminants from the surface.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.