Patent ID: 8832916
Filing Date: 2014-09-16
Classification: H01J,H01L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for dechucking a substrate from an electrostatic chuck (ESC) in a plasma processing system, comprising: flowing a first gas into a plasma chamber of said plasma processing system; flowing a second gas to a backside of said substrate to create a high pressure buildup of said second gas under said backside; reducing a flow of said second gas such that at least a portion of said second gas is trapped under said backside of said substrate; pumping out said plasma chamber to increase a pressure differential between a first pressure and a second pressure, wherein said first pressure is a pressure that exists under said backside of said substrate and said second pressure is a pressure that exists in a region above said substrate, wherein said pressure differential enables said substrate to be lifted from said ESC, removing said substrate from said ESC, and further including forming a localized plasma without using RF power to thereby discharge a residual charge on at least one of said substrate and said ESC, wherein said localized plasma is formed from said residual charge and at least said second gas trapped under said backside of said substrate, wherein said discharge minimizes arcing.