Patent ID: 7072166

Claim:
A method for clamping a semiconductor wafer having a backside insulator to a J-R electrostatic chuck having a leaky dielectric layer, the method comprising: determining a single-phase square wave clamping voltage for the electrostatic chuck, wherein the determination is based, at least in part, on a minimum residual clamping force associated with the wafer and the electrostatic chuck and a surface topography of the leaky dielectric layer; placing the wafer on the electrostatic chuck; and applying the determined single-phase square wave clamping voltage to the electrostatic chuck, therein electrostatically clamping the wafer to the electrostatic chuck, wherein at least the minimum residual clamping force is maintained during a polarity switch of the single-phase square wave clamping voltage, wherein the wafer remains clamped to the electrostatic chuck.