Electrostatic Chuck Porous Plug Sintering to Prevent Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
The unpredictable insertion of a porous plug into a ceramic body in electrostatic chucks leads to adhesive erosion, premature arcing failures, and secondary particle contamination, reducing the service life and product yields due to variations in plug quality and manual adhesive application, as well as weakened bonds under elevated temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A ceramic-to-ceramic bond is used to secure the porous plug within the ceramic body, eliminating the need for adhesives and enhancing the robustness and reliability of the electrostatic chuck by sintering the plug with the ceramic body, thereby forming a single fired ceramic structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adhesive is used to secure the porous plug to the ceramic body, then the plug can be retained in the gas passage, but the adhesive erodes over time leading to contamination and reduced service life
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive layer is completely removed from the system. The porous plug is directly sintered to the ceramic body, eliminating the adhesive interface that causes erosion and contamination. This extraction of the harmful adhesive component resolves the contradiction between retaining the plug and preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The porous plug and ceramic body are merged into a single integrated structure through sintering. The direct ceramic-to-ceramic bond creates a unified component without intermediate adhesive layers, preventing erosion while maintaining structural integrity and plug retention.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual adhesive application is used to secure the porous plug, then the plug can be attached to the ceramic body, but the bond quality varies leading to unpredictable insertion and premature failures
Solution Approach 1:
The manual adhesive application process is replaced with a sintering process. Instead of applying adhesive manually and hoping for consistent bonds, the porous plug and ceramic body are sintered together in a controlled thermal process that ensures uniform, predictable bonding without manual intervention, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and manufacturing precision.
3Reliability
If adhesive is used to bond the porous plug, then the plug can be secured in the gas passage, but plasma and temperature weaken the adhesive bond
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding method is changed from chemical adhesive bonding to thermal sintering. The sintering process creates a ceramic-to-ceramic bond that is stable at elevated temperatures and in plasma environments, whereas adhesive bonds degrade under these conditions. This parameter change in the bonding mechanism resolves the contradiction between securing the plug and maintaining bond strength under processing conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces contamination and extends the service life of the electrostatic chuck, improving production yields and reducing costs by minimizing particle contamination and increasing mean times between service intervals.
Implementation Method 1
a ceramic porous plug is sintered with the ceramic body
Data Source
AI summary
Electrostatic chucks and method for forming the same are described herein. The electrostatic chucks include a backside gas passage having a ceramic porous plug secured therein by a ceramic body of the chuck with a ceramic-to-ceramic body. In one example, ceramic porous plug is sintered with the ceramic body.