Patent ID: 11972971
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 14:
15. A wafer lift pin system, comprising:
one or more lift pins configured to support a semiconductor wafer;
a pressure sensor configured to generate pressure sensor data and provide the pressure sensor data;
a controller, configured to:
receive the pressure sensor data from the pressure sensor;
determine, based on the pressure sensor data, that a gas is being supplied to the wafer lift pin system; and
transmit, based on determining that the gas is being supplied to the wafer lift pin system, an indication of a pressure setting; and

a proportional valve configured to:
receive the indication of the pressure setting from the controller; and
provide a supply of the gas to the one or more lift pins to cause the one or more lift pins to raise the semiconductor wafer,
wherein the proportional valve determines a pressure of the supply of the gas to the one or more lift pins and modulates the supply of the gas to the one or more lift pins such that the pressure of the gas is within a threshold of the pressure setting.