A wafer carrier includes a pocket sized and shaped to accommodate a wafer, the pocket having a base and a substantially circular perimeter, and a removable orientation marker, the removable orientation marker comprising an outer surface and an inner surface, the outer surface having an arcuate form sized and shaped to mate with the substantially circular perimeter of the pocket, and the inner surface comprising a flat face, wherein the removable orientation marker further comprises a notch at a first end of the flat face.

Some implementations of a retaining ring has an inner surface having a first portion formed of multiple planar facets and a second portion that adjoins the first portion along a boundary and includes a frustoconical surface that is sloped downwardly from outside in. Some implementations of the retaining ring have a crenellated or serpentine inner surface, and/or an inner surface with alternating region of different surface properties or different tilt angles.

A clamp assembly includes at least one clamp which is provided to clamp a workpiece in electroless plating, etching, electroplating or cleaning process. The clamp includes a base, a clamping element and a limiting element. The base is mounted on a carrier and includes a guide hole and a first limiting hole which are communicated with each other. The clamping element includes a guide rod and a second limiting hole, the guide rod is inserted into the guide hole to allow the second limiting hole located on the guide hole to be communicated with the first limiting hole. The limiting element is inserted into the first and second limiting holes to integrate the base with the clamping element for clamping the workpiece.

Provided herein are methods and apparatuses for controlling uniformity of processing at an edge region of a semiconductor wafer. In some embodiments, the methods include exposing an edge region to treatment gases such as etch gases and/or inhibition gases. Also provided herein are exclusion ring assemblies including multiple rings that may be implemented to provide control of the processing environment at the edge of the wafer.

An edge ring used in a chamber comprises a cover with an internal space, a circuit board disposed in the internal space of the cover and at least one electrical element disposed on the circuit board. Here, the electrical element includes a temperature sensor, and temperature of the edge ring, heat distribution generated when ion bombardment occurs in plasma state or heat flux in the edge ring is measured by using the temperature sensor.

A substrate handling system includes a fixed deposition ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches along an outer edge of the fixed deposition ring, the fixed deposition ring being electrically non-conductive; a moving deposition ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced recesses formed on a lower surface of the moving deposition ring, the recesses configured to radially align with the notches of the fixed deposition ring, the moving deposition ring having an inner edge and an outer edge, the moving deposition ring being electrically non-conductive; and a plurality of electrically conductive grounding plates each having a base, an intermediate member, and a contact extending from the intermediate member and being spaced from the base, the intermediate members configured to be received in the recesses and extend between the inner edge and the outer edge of the moving deposition ring.

A wafer processing apparatus includes a rotating chuck rotatably installed on a driver, a vacuum chuck which is disposed on the rotating chuck and on which a wafer is seated, a chuck module installed in the rotating chuck to fix the wafer to the vacuum chuck, and a moving module configured to move the vacuum chuck or the chuck module to increase a gap between adjacent dies of the wafer.

A substrate processing system including a substrate processing apparatus, a transport apparatus, and a controller. The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate processing chamber, a substrate support, and an edge ring having a first horizontal surface and a first inclined surface. The transport apparatus includes a transport chamber, a transport arm, an optical sensor, a lens structure, and an actuator that moves the lens structure in a horizontal direction between a first horizontal position and a second horizontal position. The controller determines a consumption amount of the first horizontal surface based on an output of the optical sensor when the lens structure is at the first horizontal position, and determines a consumption amount of the first inclined surface based on an output of the optical sensor when the lens structure is at the second horizontal position.

A wafer positioning ring device includes a polishing ring that has a polishing ring inner surface surrounded by a polishing ring outer surface, a connecting ring that has a connecting ring inner surface surrounded by a connecting ring outer surface, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit includes first positioning members that are disposed on one of the polishing ring outer surface of the polishing ring and the connecting ring inner surface of the connecting ring, and second positioning members that are disposed on another one of the polishing ring outer surface of the polishing ring and the connecting ring inner surface of the connecting ring. The second positioning members and the first positioning members are detachably and respectively connected to each other such that the connecting ring is positioned to the polishing ring.

A member for a plasma processing apparatus includes a base material and a heat transfer layer provided on one surface of the base material, and the heat transfer layer contains at least one of a fluorine-based resin and a fluorine-based elastomer.