An aluminum nitride sintered body contains 1 to 5% by weight of yttrium oxide (Y.sub.2O.sub.3), 10 to 100 ppm by weight of titanium (Ti), and the balance being aluminum nitride (AlN). Accordingly, a volume resistance value and thermal conductivity at a high temperature are improved, and the generation of impurities during a semiconductor manufacturing process can be suppressed.

Disclosed are a susceptor for enabling uniform plasma treatment over the entire surface of a wafer, and a manufacturing method therefor. Provided is the susceptor comprising: a dielectric plate having an upper surface on which a wafer is loaded, and a lower surface facing same; and an inner RF electrode and an outer RF electrode that are buried in the dielectric plate, wherein, with respect to the lower surface, the height of a first plane in which the inner RF electrode is buried is less than the height of a second plane in which the outer RF electrode is buried.

The present disclosure describes methods and systems for plasma-assisted etching of a metal oxide. The method includes modifying a surface of the metal oxide with a first gas, removing a top portion of the metal oxide by a ligand exchange reaction, and cleaning the surface of the metal oxide with a second gas.

A method for processing a semiconductor wafer is provided. The method includes transferring the semiconductor wafer above a wafer placement device having a plate to align an edge of the semiconductor wafer with a first buffer member positioned in a peripheral region of the plate and to align a center of the semiconductor wafer with a second buffer member positioned in a central region of the plate. Each of the first buffer member and the second buffer member has a stiffness that is less than that of the plate. The method further includes lowering down the semiconductor wafer to place the semiconductor wafer over the plate.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a hydrophobizing part configured to perform a hydrophobizing process of forming a hydrophobic film on a front surface of a substrate through vapor deposition of a hydrophobizing gas, an ultraviolet radiation part configured to radiate ultraviolet rays to a removal area on a rear surface of the substrate so as to remove the hydrophobic film formed in the removal area in the hydrophobizing process, and a resin-film forming part configured to form a fluororesin film in the removal area after the hydrophobic film is removed.

A substrate processing device includes a platen, a polishing pad disposed on the platen, a first rotating body, a second rotating body spaced apart from the first rotating body, a caterpillar module disposed on a portion of the polishing pad and engaged with the first rotating body and the second rotating body, and a temperature controller thermally connected to the caterpillar module.

Provided is an apparatus for processing a substrate, which includes a chamber having a processing space in which a process of depositing a thin-film on a substrate is performed and a structure which is installed to expose at least one surface to the processing space and in which a coating layer made of a polymer forming at least one of covalent bond and double bond at an end tail is formed on the surface exposed to the processing space. Thus, the substrate processing apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment may restrict or prevent particle generation and substrate pollution generation caused by a thin-film deposited in the chamber. Also, a period of cleaning the chamber and a structure or a component in the chamber may be extended. Thus, a product yield rate and an apparatus operation efficiency may improve.

An electrostatic chuck is provided. Implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electrostatic chuck comprising: a silicon nitride sintered body; a surface modification layer covering at least a portion of the external surface of the silicon nitride sintered body and having corrosion resistance and plasma resistance; and an electrostatic electrode laid inside the silicon nitride sintered body. Therefore, the electrostatic chuck includes a ceramic sintered body of silicon nitride, and thus has excellent plasma resistance, chemical resistance, and thermal shock resistance while exhibiting an equivalent or similar level of heat dissipation performance compared to ceramic sintered bodies of aluminum nitride that have been conventionally widely used, so that the electrostatic chuck can be widely used in semiconductor processes.

A wafer drying apparatus is disclosed. The wafer drying apparatus may include a drying chamber housing providing a drying space, in which a wafer is disposed, a supercritical fluid supplying part configured to supply a supercritical fluid into the drying space, a wafer heating part configured to heat the wafer disposed in the drying space, and a wafer cooling part configured to cool the wafer disposed in the drying space. The wafer cooling part may include a cooling plate disposed below a place, on which the wafer is loaded, and a cooling conduit inserted in the cooling plate.

A system, including a ceramic base and a resistive heating trace embedded in the ceramic base. The resistive heating trace includes a plurality of elongated parallel trace segments, where each trace segment extends across a major surface of the ceramic base. The resistive heating trace further includes a first terminal coupled to a first elongated parallel trace segment of the plurality of elongated parallel trace segments and disposed a first radial distance from a center of the ceramic base. The resistive heating trace further includes a second terminal coupled to a second elongated parallel trace segment of the plurality of elongated parallel trace segments and disposed a second radial distance from the center of the ceramic base.