Clamp with wafer release for semiconductor wafer processing equipment
US5513594A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 1993 |
| Grant date | May 7, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 20, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/68735
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for releasably clamping a substrate to a support platform, or other support system, at a face of the substrate is described. In one embodiment, a retractable clamp holds a substrate near its edges on a support platform when the clamp is in its fully extended position. One or more leaf springs are mounted to the clamp and apply force to the substrate at respective points in the event the substrate adheres to the clamp, thereby releasing the substrate from the clamp. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one or more activators are positioned in cooperative relationship to the leaf springs to cause the leaf springs to retract into recesses in the clamp when the clamp is extended against the substrate. In their retracted position, the leaf springs do not contact the substrate so as to minimize the generation of particle contamination and the chance of the release leaf springs themselves adhering to the substrate.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.