TWI776380B - Method for bonding dielectric material of electrostatic chuck and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a device for bonding a dielectric material of an electrostatic chuck. In one embodiment, the device comprises: a frame, a plurality of guide pins, a vacuum suction system, and a height adjustment mechanism. The frame comprises a plurality of posts, a top plate, and a bottom plate. The plurality of guide pins protrudes from a top surface of the bottom plate for assisting in positioning. The vacuum suction system comprises a vacuum suction member and a vacuum generator in fluid communication with the vacuum suction member, for enabling the adhesion of the dielectric material to the vacuum suction member. The height adjustment mechanism is mounted to the frame and connected to the vacuum suction member, for adjusting the height of the vacuum suction member. This invention also relates to a method for bonding a dielectric material of an electrostatic chuck.

Description

Dielectric material bonding method and device for electrostatic chuck

The present invention relates to electrostatic chucks, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for laminating dielectric materials for electrostatic chucks.

Electrostatic chucks are widely used in semiconductor processing equipment (eg, plasma processing chambers) to provide support for substrates (eg, semiconductor wafers). During substrate processing, electrostatic chucks can use electrostatic forces to attract the substrate, thereby holding it in place in the processing equipment.

The top of the electrostatic chuck typically includes a layer of dielectric material that is in contact with the overlying substrate during substrate processing. The dielectric material layer is attached to the base of the electrostatic chuck via a laminating glue. During substrate processing, the adhesive between the dielectric material layer of the electrostatic chuck and the susceptor can be damaged by erosion (eg, by plasma generated during substrate processing). Therefore, the adhesive must be replaced regularly to maintain the performance of the electrostatic chuck. In the process of replacing the adhesive, the dielectric material layer of the electrostatic chuck needs to be removed first, then the adhesive is replaced, and finally the dielectric material layer is re-applied to the replaced adhesive. Conventionally, the bonding step of the dielectric material layer is performed manually. However, performing this step manually has artificial uncertainty, which often leads to problems such as inaccurate alignment, which in turn increases various reconstruction costs.

It is against this background that the present invention arises.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a bonding device and method for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck, which can more easily make the dielectric material layer adhere to the base of the electrostatic chuck accurately and smoothly, so that the Compared with conventional methods, it can reduce the cost of remanufacturing and reduce the artificial uncertainty.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a bonding device for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck, which includes: a frame, a plurality of guide pins, a vacuum adsorption system, and a height adjustment mechanism. The frame includes a plurality of uprights, a top plate, and a bottom plate. A plurality of guide pins protrude vertically upward from the upper surface of the base plate, and are used for assisting the positioning of the base of the electrostatic chuck and the dielectric material layer. The vacuum adsorption system includes a vacuum adsorption member and a vacuum generator in fluid communication with the vacuum adsorption member, wherein the vacuum adsorption system is configured to adsorb the dielectric material layer on the vacuum adsorption member by means of vacuum adsorption. The height adjustment mechanism is installed on the frame and connected with the vacuum suction member, wherein the height adjustment mechanism is configured to adjust the height of the vacuum suction member.

In one embodiment, the height adjustment mechanism includes a height adjustment knob and a screw rod, and wherein the height adjustment mechanism is configured to adjust the height of the vacuum suction member along the screw rod by rotating the height adjustment knob. In one embodiment, the height adjustment mechanism further includes an altimeter for measuring the height change of the vacuum suction member. In one embodiment, the shape of the vacuum suction member is U-shaped.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for laminating a dielectric material layer for an electrostatic chuck is provided. The method uses the laminating device as described herein. The method includes the following steps: The base of the electrostatic chuck is placed on the bottom plate of the laminating device, wherein the positioning holes in the base of the electrostatic chuck and the plurality of guide pins are aligned with each other; The method makes the dielectric material layer adsorb on the vacuum adsorption member; the height adjustment mechanism is used to move the vacuum adsorption member downward, so that the dielectric material layer adsorbed on the vacuum adsorption member moves downwards; When the lamination glue on the base of the electrostatic chuck is in contact, the vacuum suction system is turned off to release the dielectric material layer; and the electrostatic chuck is removed from the lamination device.

Other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

100: Electrostatic chuck

102: Dielectric material layer

104: Lamination glue

106: Pedestal

108: Cooling circuit channel

200: Fitting device

202: Top Plate

204: Bottom Plate

206: Plural columns

208: Height adjustment mechanism

210: Vacuum suction parts

212: Plural guide pins

216: Complex Leveler

218: Height adjustment knob

220: Altimeter

222: Vacuum adsorption hole

400: Method

402: Step

404: Step

406: Step

408: Step

410: Steps

A: circle

1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary electrostatic chuck.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a bonding operation of a dielectric material layer.

3A shows a perspective view of a laminating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3B shows a side view of a laminating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3C shows a top view of a laminating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3D shows a bottom view of a laminating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3E shows an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 3C.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for attaching a dielectric material layer for an electrostatic chuck according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of several embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary electrostatic chuck 100 . As shown, the bottom of the electrostatic chuck 100 has a base 106 . In addition, the electrostatic chuck 100 has a cooling circuit channel 108 disposed in the base 106 for cooling the electrostatic chuck 100 . As mentioned above, the top of the electrostatic chuck 100 includes a layer 102 of dielectric material that is in contact with the overlying substrate during substrate processing.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a bonding operation of the dielectric material layer 102 . As shown in the figure, the dielectric material layer 102 is attached to the base 106 of the electrostatic chuck through the lamination glue 104 . In some embodiments, the material of the adhesive 104 is silicone. During the lamination process, the dielectric material layer 102 can be moved downward toward the base 106 (in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 2 ), so that the dielectric material layer 102 is in contact with the lamination glue 104 and Then, the dielectric material layer 102 is attached to the base 106 of the electrostatic chuck.

As mentioned above, after replacing the lamination adhesive, conventionally, the lamination step of the dielectric material layer is usually performed manually. However, there is artificial uncertainty in performing this lamination step manually, which often leads to problems such as inaccurate alignment, thereby increasing various reconstruction costs.

As described herein, the present invention discloses a method and apparatus for attaching a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck to improve the above problems. In the embodiments described herein, the lamination operation is performed by a lamination device. Compared with the previous lamination methods, the lamination device and method of the present invention enables the dielectric material layer to be attached to the electrostatic chuck more accurately and stably, thereby improving the cost.

FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of the laminating device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen in FIG. 3A , the frame of the laminating device 200 includes a top plate 202 , a bottom plate 204 , and a plurality of uprights 206 , which define the frame portion of the laminating device 200 . The plurality of uprights 206 are used to provide support for the laminating device 200 and are arranged at intervals around the laminating device 200 . In addition, the top plate 202 is located at the top of the lamination device 200 and is connected to the upper end of each of the plurality of uprights 206, and the bottom plate 204 is located at the bottom of the lamination device 200 and is connected to the lower end of each of the plurality of uprights 206 .

FIG. 3B shows a side view of the lamination device 200 in which the base 106 of the electrostatic chuck has been placed, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3B , the bonding device 200 has a plurality of guide pins 212 protruding vertically upward from the upper surface of the bottom plate 204 thereof. The plurality of guide pins 212 are used to assist the positioning of the base and the dielectric material layer of the electrostatic chuck. Specifically, the base of the electrostatic chuck and the dielectric material layer each have a plurality of positioning holes penetrating up and down, which can be aligned with the plurality of guide pins 212 to facilitate positioning. In addition, the laminating device 200 includes a vacuum suction system including a vacuum suction member 210 and a vacuum generator (not shown) in fluid communication with the vacuum suction member 210 . The vacuum adsorption system is configured to adsorb the dielectric material layer on the vacuum adsorption member 210 by means of vacuum adsorption.

Furthermore, the laminating device 200 may include a height adjustment mechanism 208 , which is installed on the frame of the laminating device 200 . The height adjustment mechanism 208 is connected to the vacuum suction member 210 and is configured to adjust the height of the vacuum suction member 210 . Therefore, the height adjustment mechanism 208 can move the dielectric material layer adsorbed on the vacuum suction member 210 vertically during the lamination operation to attach the dielectric material layer to the underlying base 106 . In some embodiments, the height adjustment mechanism 208 may include a height adjustment knob 218 and a screw (not shown), and the height adjustment mechanism 208 is configured to adjust the vacuum suction member 210 along the screw by rotating the height adjustment knob 218 the height of. In these embodiments, a helical mechanism is applied to convert rotational motion to linear motion so that height adjustments can be made by manually turning height adjustment knob 218 . In some embodiments, the height adjustment mechanism 208 may include an altimeter 220 for measuring the height change of the vacuum suction member 210 , that is, for measuring the height change of the dielectric material layer. In addition, in some embodiments, the bonding device 200 may include a plurality of levelers 216 for adjusting the levelness of the bonding device 200 .

FIG. 3C shows a top view of the laminating device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the number of the plurality of guide pins 212 shown in this figure is three, it should be understood that the plurality of guide pins The number of 212 is not necessarily three. In some embodiments, the shape of the vacuum suction member 210 may be a U-shape (as shown in FIG. 3C ) for suctioning the edge region of the dielectric material layer. Specifically, the shape of the vacuum suction member 210 is selected to be U-shaped, so as to avoid contacting the non-edge area of the dielectric material layer (the main area for supporting the substrate) during suction and causing it to be affected or damaged, but at the same time Can have sufficient adsorption area. It should be understood that although the U-shaped vacuum suction member 210 is used in this embodiment, the vacuum suction member 210 may also have any other shape. In some embodiments, the vacuum suction member 210 is configured to be capable of attracting the dielectric material layer to the lower surface of the vacuum suction member 210 . In these embodiments, the vacuum suction member 210 may have a plurality of vacuum suction holes arranged at intervals on the lower surface. When the vacuum adsorption system is activated (eg, the related vacuum generator is activated), the dielectric material layer can be adsorbed through the vacuum adsorption holes on the vacuum adsorption member 210 .

FIG. 3D shows a bottom view of the laminating device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be seen that the bonding device 200 may include a plurality of positioning pins (represented by open circles in the figure) for assisting the positioning of the electrostatic chuck. FIG. 3E is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 3C (the portion within circle A) showing exemplary vacuum suction holes 222 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the plurality of vacuum suction holes 222 are located on the lower side of the vacuum suction member 210 , which are represented by dotted lines here for the purpose of illustration.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for laminating a dielectric material layer for an electrostatic chuck, which method 400 uses the laminating apparatus described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4 , method 400 includes steps 402 , 404 , 406 , 408 , and 410 . In step 402, the base of the electrostatic chuck coated with the adhesive is placed on the bottom plate of the laminating device, wherein the positioning holes in the base of the electrostatic chuck are aligned with the plurality of guide pins. In step 404, the vacuum adsorption system is activated to adsorb the dielectric material layer to the vacuum adsorption member by vacuum adsorption. In step 406, use The height adjustment mechanism moves the vacuum suction member downward, so that the dielectric material layer adsorbed on the vacuum suction member moves downward. In step 408, when the dielectric material layer is in contact with and adhered to the adhesive applied on the base of the electrostatic chuck, the vacuum suction system is turned off to release the dielectric material layer. In step 410, the electrostatic chuck is removed from the applicator.

As described above, by using the bonding apparatus and method for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck according to the present invention, the accuracy of the bonding operation can be increased, thereby reducing the remanufacturing cost. In addition, by using the lamination device and method according to the present invention, the lamination process can also be simplified, thereby reducing human uncertainty. Furthermore, compared with other mechanical clamping methods, the lamination operation performed by the vacuum adsorption method can also make the process of picking up and releasing the dielectric material layer more stable.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement the method and apparatus of the present embodiments. Accordingly, the present embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the present embodiments should not be limited to the specific details set forth herein.

200: Fitting device 202: Top Plate 204: Bottom Plate 206: Plural columns 208: Height adjustment mechanism

Claims (5)

A bonding device for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck, comprising: A framework comprising: a plurality of uprights for providing support for the fitting device; a top plate located on top of the fitting device and connected to the upper end of each of the plurality of uprights; and a bottom plate located at the bottom of the fitting device and connected to the lower end of each of the plurality of uprights; a plurality of guide pins, which protrude vertically upward from the upper surface of the base plate, and are used for assisting the positioning of the base of the electrostatic chuck and the dielectric material layer; A vacuum adsorption system comprising a vacuum adsorption member and a vacuum generator in fluid communication with the vacuum adsorption member, wherein the vacuum adsorption system is configured to adsorb the dielectric material layer to the vacuum adsorption by means of vacuum adsorption pieces; and A height adjustment mechanism is installed on the frame and connected with the vacuum suction member, wherein the height adjustment mechanism is configured to adjust the height of the vacuum suction member. The laminating device for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein the height adjustment mechanism comprises a height adjustment knob and a screw rod, and wherein the height adjustment mechanism is configured to rotate the height adjustment knob along the Adjust the height of the vacuum suction member along the screw. The bonding device for the dielectric material layer of the electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein the height adjustment mechanism further comprises an altimeter for measuring the height change of the vacuum suction member. The bonding device for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the vacuum suction member is U-shaped. A bonding method for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck, the method using the bonding device for a dielectric material layer of an electrostatic chuck as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, the method comprising the following step: placing the base of the electrostatic chuck coated with the adhesive on the bottom plate of the laminating device, wherein the positioning holes in the base of the electrostatic chuck are aligned with the plurality of guide pins; Activate the vacuum adsorption system to adsorb the dielectric material layer on the vacuum adsorption member by vacuum adsorption; Use the height adjustment mechanism to move the vacuum suction member downward, so that the dielectric material layer adsorbed on the vacuum suction member moves downward; When the dielectric material layer is in contact with the adhesive coated on the base of the electrostatic chuck, turning off the vacuum suction system to release the dielectric material layer; and Remove the electrostatic chuck from the applicator.

Images