A radiation shield and an assembly and a reactor including the radiation shield are disclosed. The radiation shield can be used to control heat flux from a susceptor heater assembly and thereby enable better control of temperatures across a surface of a substrate placed on a surface of the susceptor heater assembly.

An apparatus for and a method of bonding a first substrate and a second substrate are provided. In an embodiment a first wafer chuck has a first curved surface and a second wafer chuck has a second curved surface. A first wafer is placed on the first wafer chuck and a second wafer is placed on a second wafer chuck, such that both the first wafer and the second wafer are pre-warped prior to bonding. Once the first wafer and the second wafer have been pre-warped, the first wafer and the second wafer are bonded together.

An edge ring, for a plasma etcher, may include a circular bottom portion with an opening sized to receive an electrostatic chuck supporting a semiconductor device, and a circular top portion integrally connected to a first top part of the circular bottom portion. The edge ring may include a circular chamfer portion integrally connected to a second top part of the circular bottom portion and integrally connected to a side of the circular top portion. The circular chamfer portion may include an inner surface that is angled radially outward from the opening at less than ninety degrees.

An electrostatic chuck according to the disclosure includes a chuck base, and an upper plate. The upper plate includes a base portion, and a first contact pattern, a second contact pattern and an outer dam protruding from the base portion. The outer dam surrounds the first contact pattern structure and the second contact pattern structure. A distance of the second contact pattern structure to the outer dam is less than a distance from the first contact pattern structure to the outer dam. A surface roughness of a top surface of the second contact pattern structure is greater than a surface roughness of a top surface of the first contact pattern structure.

Embodiments disclosed herein may further comprise a semiconductor processing tool. In an embodiment, the tool comprises a chamber with a chuck within the chamber. In an embodiment, the chuck is an electrostatic chuck. The tool may further comprise a laser configured to propagate a laser beam through a viewport through a chamber wall, with a beam splitter configured to separate the laser beam into a plurality of parallel beams. In an embodiment, the plurality of parallel beams are propagated towards the chuck. In an embodiment, the processing tool further comprises a camera configured to image the plurality of parallel beams, where the plurality of parallel beams are configured to reflect off a substrate on the chuck towards the camera.

Disclosed in this invention is a wafer processing apparatus and method for pre-alignment and edge exposure of a wafer. The wafer processing apparatus includes a pre-alignment module, an edge exposure module, a motion module, a control module and a rotary table. The motion module includes a rotation module, a lifting module and a translation module, which are disposed and interconnected above one another. The rotation module is connected at the top to the rotary table and is configured to drive the rotary table to rotate together with the wafer. The lifting module is configured to drive the rotation module and the rotary table to move vertically. The translation module is configured to drive the lifting module and the rotation module to move horizontally. The pre-alignment module and the edge exposure module are positioned in correspondence to opposing sides of the wafer. The invention reduces the number of objects to be controlled as well as the complexity in control and system structure. Additionally, it simplifies the pre-alignment operation and reduces equipment cost.

A retaining ring includes a generally annular body having an inner surface to constrain a substrate, an outer surface, and a bottom surface. The bottom surface has a plurality of channels extending from the outer surface to the inner surface and a plurality of islands separated by the channels and providing a contact area to contact a polishing pad. Each channel includes a recessed region adjacent the outer surface such that the channel is deeper in the recessed region than in a remainder of the channel. The recessed region and the remainder of the channel each have substantially uniform depth.

A substrate holding device includes a base body that has a flat plate-like shape and in which gas holes that open in an upper surface of the base body are formed, and a plurality of protrusions that protrude upward from the upper surface of the base body. A groove that opens in a lower surface of the base body and that is connected to the gas holes is formed in the base body, and a plurality of protrusions that protrude downward are formed in the groove.

A substrate placing table according to an exemplary embodiment includes a base and an electrostatic chuck provided on the base. The electrostatic chuck includes a lamination layer portion, an intermediate layer, and a covering layer. The lamination layer portion is provided on the base. The intermediate layer is provided on the lamination layer portion. The covering layer is provided on the intermediate layer. The lamination layer portion includes a first layer, an electrode layer, and a second layer. The first layer is provided on the base. The electrode layer is provided on the first layer. The second layer is provided on the electrode layer. The intermediate layer is provided between the second layer and the covering layer and is in close contact with the second layer and the covering layer. The second layer is a resin layer. The covering layer is ceramics.

A method for producing a crystal substrate includes preparing, measuring, holding, and machining. The preparing prepares a crystal substrate body including a curved crystal lattice plane. The measuring measures a shape feature of the crystal lattice plane. The holding holds the crystal substrate body in a warped state in accordance with the shape feature measured by the measuring, to more flatten the crystal lattice plane than the crystal lattice plane at the preparing. The machining machines a surface of the crystal substrate body held in the warped state, to flatten the surface.