Wafer dependence of Johnsen–Rahbek type electrostatic chuck for semiconductor processes

A Johnsen–Rahbek (J-R type) type electrostatic chuck (ESC) was found to be more sensitive to wafer conditions than classic ESC, including backside dielectric quality and thickness and doping level. The wafer backside dielectric may reduce the clamp force and increase the declamping time, depending on dielectric quality, dielectric thickness, and ESC configurations. These issues and their mechanisms are studied extensively and potential solutions are proposed.