Wafer Mounting Table Halting to Attenuate Drag Forces
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Solution Overview
Problem
In substrate processing apparatuses, misalignment of wafers during mounting on susceptors can occur due to uneven contact and drag forces, leading to non-uniform film thickness and etching issues, especially with larger diameter wafers.
Innovation Solution
A substrate mounting method and device that involves halting and resuming the approach operation of the mounting table or projections after initial contact to allow for complete and uniform contact, attenuating drag forces through damping effects and preventing horizontal misalignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the wafer is brought close to the mounting table continuously without halting, then the mounting operation is efficient, but the wafer may be misaligned due to drag forces generated from uneven contact
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting table performs periodic halting during the wafer approach operation. The wafer is brought close to the mounting table in stages with intermediate halts, allowing drag forces to be attenuated at each stage while maintaining overall mounting efficiency through automated control
Solution Approach 2:
The periodic halting and resuming of the approach operation generates controlled vibrations in the wafer-m mounting interface. These vibrations help attenuate drag forces that would otherwise cause misalignment, while the automated system ensures the vibrations remain within acceptable limits for precise positioning
2Stability of the object's composition
If the contact area between the wafer and mounting surface is increased, then the support stability is improved, but the drag force increases causing greater misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The approach operation is divided into multiple stages with halts between them. Each stage increases contact area progressively while allowing drag forces to attenuate during the halts, preventing the cumulative misalignment that would occur with continuous large-area contact
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 method effectively suppresses wafer misalignment by converting drag forces into vibrations that are attenuated, ensuring precise positioning and uniform contact, even in depressurized environments, thereby improving process uniformity and throughput.
Implementation Method 1
the vibration of the substrate, which is generated by a drag force caused by the contact between the substrate and the substrate-mounting surface, can be attenuated by a damping effect of the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a substrate mounting method of bringing a substrate close to a mounting table to mount the substrate on the mounting table by reducing a protrusion amount of a plurality of projections configured to protrude from a substrate-mounting surface of the mounting table and to support the substrate, the protrusion amount being defined to protrude from the substrate-mounting surface. The method includes: after at least a portion of the substrate is brought into contact with the substrate-mounting surface, halting an operation of bringing the substrate close to the mounting table; and after the halting the operation of bringing the substrate close to the mounting table, resuming the operation of bringing the substrate close to the mounting table.