Electrostatic chuck assembly for high temperature processes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE50838-E
Application number	US-202217973417-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Oct 25, 2022
Priority date	Oct 17, 2014
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

An electrostatic chuck assembly includes a puck and a cooling plate. The puck includes an electrically insulative upper puck plate comprising one or more heating elements and one or more electrodes to electrostatically secure a substrate and further includes a lower puck plate bonded to the upper puck plate by a metal bond, the lower puck plate comprising a plurality of features distributed over a bottom side of the lower puck plate at a plurality of different distances from a center of the lower puck plate, wherein each of the plurality of features accommodates one of a plurality of fasteners. The cooling plate is coupled to the puck by the plurality of fasteners, wherein the plurality of fasteners each apply an approximately equal fastening force to couple the cooling plate to the puck.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electrostatic chuck assembly comprising:
a puck comprising:
an electrically insulative upper puck plate comprising one or more heating elements and one or more electrodes to electrostatically secure a substrate; and
a lower puck plate bonded to the electrically insulative upper puck plate by a metal bond, the lower puck plate comprising a plurality of features distributed over the lower puck plate at a plurality of different distances from a center of the lower puck plate, wherein each of the plurality of features accommodates one of a plurality of fasteners, wherein the upper puck plate lacks the plurality of features and the plurality of features of the lower puck plate are not accessible via the upper puck plate;
a cooling plate coupled to the lower puck plate by the plurality of fasteners; and at least one of a gasket or an o-ring disposed on a top side of at least a portion of the cooling plate, wherein the plurality of fasteners each apply an approximately equal fastening force to couple the cooling plate to the puck, to compress at least one of the o-ring or the gasket, and to maintain an approximately equal separation between the cooling plate and the lower puck plate and facilitate a uniform heat transfer between the cooling plate and the lower puck plate.

2 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is a perfluoropolymer (PFP) gasket, and wherein the PFP gasket acts as a thermal choke between the cooling plate and the puck.

3 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a flexible graphite layer on the gasket.

4 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cooling plate comprises:
a base portion; and a spring loaded heat sink connected to the base portion by a plurality of springs, wherein the plurality of springs apply a force to press the spring loaded heat sink against the lower puck plate.

5 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fasteners comprise a plurality of threaded fasteners and the plurality of features comprise a plurality of openings for receiving the plurality of threaded fasteners.

6 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
an interface between the puck and the cooling plate, wherein the interface acts as a thermal choke that is configured to maintain a temperature difference between the cooling plate and the substrate of up to approximately 190° C.

7 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrically insulative upper puck plate comprises AlN and the lower puck plate comprises one of a) Molybdenum or b) a SiC porous body infiltrated with an AlSi alloy.

8 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrically insulative upper puck plate comprises Al 2 O 3 and the lower puck plate comprises Al 2 O 3 .

9 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrically insulative upper puck plate comprises AlN and the lower puck plate comprises AlN.

10 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein the o-ring is disposed around a perimeter of the puck at an interface between the electrically insulative upper puck plate and a base portion of the cooling plate.

11 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
an electrically conductive path between a top of the lower puck plate and a bottom of the lower puck plate.

12 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 11 , wherein the electrically conductive path comprises a hole filled with an electrically conductive material.

13 . An electrostatic chuck assembly, comprising:
a puck comprising:
an electrically insulative upper puck plate comprising one or more heating elements and one or more electrodes to electrostatically secure a substrate; and
a lower puck plate bonded to the electrically insulative upper puck plate by a metal bond, the lower puck plate comprising a plurality of features distributed over the lower puck plate at a plurality of different distances from a center of the lower puck plate, wherein each of the plurality of features accommodates one of a plurality of fasteners; and
an electrically conductive path between a top of the lower puck plate and a bottom of the lower puck plate;
a cooling plate coupled to the lower puck plate by the plurality of fasteners, wherein the plurality of fasteners each apply an approximately equal fastening force to couple the cooling plate to the puck; and an electrically conductive gasket between the lower puck plate and the cooling plate, wherein the electrically conductive gasket contacts the electrically conductive path.

14 . A method comprising:
forming a plurality of features in a lower puck plate, wherein the plurality of features are distributed over the lower puck plate at a plurality of different distances from a center of the lower puck plate, wherein each of the plurality of features accommodates one of a plurality of fasteners; bonding the lower puck plate to an electrically insulative upper puck plate with a metal bond to form a puck, the electrically insulative upper puck plate comprising one or more heating elements and one or more electrodes to electrostatically secure a substrate, wherein the upper puck plate lacks the plurality of features and the plurality of features of the lower puck plate are not accessible via the upper puck plate; disposing at least one of a gasket or an o-ring to a top side of at least a portion of a cooling plate; inserting one of the plurality of fasteners into each of the plurality of features formed in the lower puck plate; and coupling the cooling plate to the puck by tightening the plurality of fasteners, wherein the plurality of fasteners are tightened approximately equally to apply an approximately equal fastening force to couple the cooling plate to the puck, to compress at least one of the o-ring or the gasket, and to maintain an approximately equal separation between the cooling plate and the lower puck plate and facilitate a uniform heat transfer between the cooling plate and the lower puck plate.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
disposing a flexible graphite layer on the gasket.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
forming an electrically conductive path between a top of the lower puck plate and a bottom of the lower puck plate.

17 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 13 , further comprising:
at least one of a gasket or an o-ring disposed on a top side of at least a portion of the cooling plate.

18 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 17 , wherein the gasket acts as a thermal choke between the cooling plate and the puck.

19 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 18 , further comprising:
a flexible graphite layer on the gasket.

20 . The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cooling plate comprises:
a base portion; and a spring loaded heat sink connected to the base portion by a plurality of springs, wherein the plurality of springs apply a force to press the spring loaded heat sink against the lower puck plate.

21. The electrostatic chuck assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the puck further comprises at least one of:
a) a plurality of threaded inserts embedded within the lower puck plate, wherein each threaded insert of the plurality of threaded inserts is disposed within a feature of the plurality of features, and wherein each of the plurality of threaded inserts

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Parkhe Vijay D

Classifications

• H10P72/7624

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

• H10P72/0434

  mainly by convection · CPC title

• H10P72/0432 Primary

  mainly by conduction · CPC title

• H10P72/72

  using electrostatic chucks · CPC title

• H10P72/0441

  Apparatus for sealing, encapsulating, glassing, decapsulating or the like · CPC title