Mesa height modulation for thickness correction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11869795-B2
Application number	US-202117371549-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2021
Priority date	Jul 9, 2021
Publication date	Jan 9, 2024
Grant date	Jan 9, 2024

Abstract

Exemplary substrate support assemblies may include a chuck body defining a substrate support surface. The substrate support surface may define a plurality of protrusions that extend upward from the substrate support surface. The substrate support surface may define an annular groove and/or ridge. A subset of the plurality of protrusions may be disposed within the annular groove and/or ridge. The substrate support assemblies may include a support stem coupled with the chuck body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate support assembly, comprising:
a chuck body defining a substrate support surface, wherein:
the substrate support surface defines a plurality of protrusions that extend upward from the substrate support surface;
the substrate support surface defines first annular groove and a second annular groove;
the first annular groove and the second annular groove are radially spaced apart from one another;
a first subset of the plurality of protrusions are disposed within the first annular groove; and
a second subset of the plurality of protrusions are disposed within the second annular groove; and

a support stem coupled with the chuck body.

2. The substrate support assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
each protrusion within the first subset and the second subset has a greater height than each of the plurality of protrusions that are not disposed within the first annular groove or the second annular groove.

3. The substrate support assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
a top surface of each of the plurality of protrusions is at a substantially same vertical position.

4. The substrate support assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the first annular groove is disposed within an outer 50% of a radius of the substrate support surface.

5. The substrate support assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
a depth of the first annular groove is constant across a width of the first annular groove.

6. The substrate support assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
a depth of the annular groove varies across a width of the annular groove.

7. A substrate support assembly, comprising:
a chuck body defining a substrate support surface, wherein:
the substrate support surface defines a plurality of protrusions that extend upward from the substrate support surface;
the substrate support surface defines a first region and a second region that are depressed relative to a primary region of the substrate support surface;
the first region and the second region are spaced apart from one another about the substrate support surface;
a subset of the plurality of protrusions are disposed within each of the first region and the second region; and

a support stem coupled with the chuck body.

8. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
each protrusion within the subset has a height of at least 1.5 mils and at least some of the plurality of protrusions that are not disposed within the first region or the second region have a height of less than about 1.5 mils.

9. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
the first region has a different depth than the second region.

10. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
a top surface of each of the plurality of protrusions is at a substantially same vertical position; and
a distance between the substrate support surface and the top surface of each of the plurality of protrusions varies across a width of the substrate support surface.

11. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
a density of the plurality of protrusions is greater near a peripheral edge of the substrate support surface than near a center of the substrate support surface.

12. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
the chuck body comprises an electrostatic chuck or a vacuum chuck.

13. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
at least one of the first region and the second region comprises an annular groove.

14. The substrate support assembly of claim 7 , wherein:
at least one of the first region and the second region extends only partially about a circumference of the substrate support surface.

15. A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
clamping a substrate to a substrate support surface of a chuck body using a chucking force, wherein:
the substrate support surface defines a plurality of protrusions that extend upward from the substrate support surface;
the substrate support surface defines a first region and a second region that are depressed relative to a primary region of the substrate support surface; and
the first region and the second region are spaced apart from one another about the substrate support surface;
a subset of the plurality of protrusions are disposed within each of the first region and the second region;

flowing a precursor into a processing chamber;
generating a plasma of the precursor within a processing region of the processing chamber; and
depositing a material on the substrate.

16. The method of processing a substrate of claim 15 , wherein:
the chucking force comprises an electrostatic chucking force.

17. The method of processing a substrate of claim 15 , wherein:
at least one of the first region and the second region comprises an annular groove.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Pemmasani Saketh
• Dhanakshirur Akshay
• Kulkarni Mayur Govind
• Mutyala Madhu Santosh Kumar
• Yu Hang
• Padhi Deenesh

Classifications

• H10P72/722 Primary

  Details of electrostatic chucks · CPC title

• H10P72/7624 Primary

  characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H10P72/7626

  characterised by the construction of the shaft · CPC title

• H10P72/7614

  characterised by a plurality of individual support members, e.g. support posts or protrusions · CPC title

• H10P72/72

  using electrostatic chucks · CPC title