Wafer Support Structure With Movable Arms for Warpage Conformity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate support devices struggle to appropriately support semiconductor wafers with significant warpage, leading to gaps and inadequate support due to mismatched height adjustments and contraction directions.
Innovation Solution
A substrate support device with a movable part that includes an arm part and an expansion and contraction mechanism to conform to the substrate's warpage, allowing the placement surface to bend and adjust to the substrate's shape, using an arm part and expansion and contraction mechanism to support substrates with warpage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the variable thickness layer contracts in a predetermined direction, then the thickness control is simplified, but the warpage support capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion and contraction mechanisms are configured to operate in horizontal directions (radial and tangential) rather than only in the vertical direction. This multi-dimensional movement capability allows the arm parts to adjust the placement part's position and orientation, enabling the system to support various warpage patterns while maintaining manageable mechanism complexity.
2Device complexity
If a fixed placement part is used, then the device structure is simplified, but the adaptability to substrates with warpage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The placement part is made movable through the arm parts with expansion and contraction mechanisms, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position and orientation. This transforms the fixed placement part into a dynamic one that can adapt to substrates with various warpage patterns while maintaining a relatively simple overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable part with multiple arm parts and expansion/contraction mechanisms serves multiple functions: it supports substrates with different warpage patterns, adjusts the placement part's position and orientation, and maintains contact with the substrate across various conditions. This multi-functionality increases adaptability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
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
The device effectively supports substrates with warpage by minimizing vertical displacement and ensuring uniform gap formation, enabling accurate temperature adjustment and reducing the need for dedicated support structures, thus lowering costs and increasing support flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
an expansion and contraction part which expands and contracts in the horizontal direction according to the warpage of the substrate placed on the placement surface
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate support device includes a placement part formed in a plate shape which extends in a horizontal direction and having a placement surface on which a substrate is placed, and a movable part which makes the placement surface conform to the substrate by moving according to a warpage of the substrate placed on the placement surface. The movable part includes an arm part including an expansion and contraction part which expands and contracts in the horizontal direction according to the warpage of the substrate placed on the placement surface, an arm body having a longitudinal direction in a vertical direction in a state in which the substrate is not placed on the placement surface, and an arm connection part which connects a lower end of the arm body to an outer end of the expansion and contraction part in the horizontal direction.