초록 ▼

A low-pressure processor for processing substrates includes a chuck that engages the substrates' peripheries for purposes of clamping, sealing, and centering the substrates on chuck bodies. For accomplishing all three purposes, a mechanical clamp can be arranged with two sealing regions. One of the

A low-pressure processor for processing substrates includes a chuck that engages the substrates' peripheries for purposes of clamping, sealing, and centering the substrates on chuck bodies. For accomplishing all three purposes, a mechanical clamp can be arranged with two sealing regions. One of the sealing regions seals the clamp to a chuck body or an extension of the chuck body, and another of the sealing regions engages a peripheral edge surface of a substrate for sealing the clamp to the substrate. The second sealing region includes an inclined seating surface that engages a front edge of the substrate's peripheral edge surface and divides a clamping force into a first component that presses the substrate against the chuck body and a second component that centers the substrate on the chuck body. The peripheral engagement of the substrate exposes substantially the entire front surface of the substrate to processing and exposes substantially the entire back surface of the substrate to a heat-transfer gas for enhancing thermal transfers between the substrate and the temperature-regulated chuck body.

대표청구항 ▼

[ We claim:] [1.] A chuck for low-pressure processing equipment comprising:a chuck body that supports a substrate for processing within an evacuatable space of a low-pressure processing chamber;the substrate having a front surface, a back surface, and a peripheral edge surface interconnecting the fr

[ We claim:] [1.] A chuck for low-pressure processing equipment comprising:a chuck body that supports a substrate for processing within an evacuatable space of a low-pressure processing chamber;the substrate having a front surface, a back surface, and a peripheral edge surface interconnecting the front and back surfaces; anda sealing structure that engages a portion of the peripheral edge surface of the substrate and that forms together with the substrate and said chuck body a separately pressurizable region within the evacuatable space of the low-pressure processing chamber.