Chemistry: electrical and wave energy – Processes and products – Coating – forming or etching by sputtering
Patent
1994-10-03
1995-10-24
Nguyen, Nam
Chemistry: electrical and wave energy
Processes and products
Coating, forming or etching by sputtering
20429809, 20429815, 20429831, 20419232, 156345, 118503, 118728, C23C 1434, B05C 1300
Patent
active
054607035
ABSTRACT:
An improved clamping ring, useful for securing a semiconductor wafer during wafer processing, for example in a physical vapor deposition system, is made of a thermally nonconductive material having a low thermal coefficient of expansion, for example a ceramic material, such as alumina. Such material, by exhibiting only slight expansion or contraction during thermal cycling, allows the production of a clamping ring having the largest possible inner diameter, such that more wafer surface area is available for device fabrication, and such that wafer shadowing that results from metal film build-up on the clamping ring is mitigated, thereby extending the useful life of the clamp ring and reducing system downtime. Additionally, the thermal stability provided by the present invention improves wafer temperature uniformity, and therefore also improves per wafer device yield while increasing device reliability.
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Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 4th Edition, pp. 142-143 and 562.
Davenport Robert E.
Nulman Jaim
Applied Materials Inc.
Glenn Michael A.
Nguyen Nam
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