Electrostatic chuck with reference electrode
USRE37541E1 · kind E1 · reissue
1Cited by
20References
32Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 1, 1998 |
| Grant date | Feb 5, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 1, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC —)General
Abstract
An electrostatic chuck has its electrodes biased with respect to the self-bias potential induced by the plasma on the wafer, thereby providing improved resistance to breakdown in spite of variation of the wafer potential during processing. An alternate embodiment further suppresses the formation of vacuum arcs between the back of the wafer being processed and the body of the chuck by the interposition of a conductive guard ring at the self-bias potential, thereby defining an equipotential area between the closest electrode and the wafer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.