Holder for supporting wafers during semiconductor manufacture

US7582166B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• SGL Carbon AG · DE

Inventors

• Michael Lampe · Austin, US
• Burl M. Moon · Richardson, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 2, 2004
• Grant date: Sep 1, 2009
• Expiry date: May 5, 2025

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L21/68771
• WIPO field: Surface technology, coating
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

An improved wafer holder design is described which has manufacturing and performance advantages over present state-of-the-art holders used in various wafer processing applications. The new wafer holder design incorporates a series of short radial grooves. The grooves extend from the base of a circular channel, which runs along the outside diameter of the substrate wafer recess, to a fixed radial location which varies based on wafer size and thickness. The grooves provide a slight overlap with the wafer to facilitate the free exchange of gases beneath the wafer necessary for wafer loading and unloading operations. The short length of the radial grooves make the wafer holder easier to manufacture and offer more robust performance compared to the present state-of-the-art holders.