Patent ID: 8288174

Claim:
A method of processing a wafer using an Electrostatic Post Exposure Bake (EPEB) procedure, the method comprising: transferring an EPEB wafer to an Electrostatic Bake Plate (EBP) in a processing chamber in an EPEB subsystem, wherein the EPEB wafer comprises an exposed masking layer having unexposed regions and exposed regions therein; establishing initial processing voltage data for at least one of the EBP and the EPEB wafer during a pre-processing time in the EPEB procedure; obtaining initial measured voltage (IMV) data for at least one of the EBP and the EPEB wafer during the pre-processing time in the EPEB procedure; comparing the initial measured voltage (IMV) data to initial processing limits established for the EPEB wafer during the pre-processing time in the EPEB procedure; continuing to process the EPEB wafer if the initial measured voltage (IMV) data does not exceed at least one of the initial processing limits established for the EPEB wafer; and stopping the EPEB procedure if the initial measured voltage (IMV) data exceeds one or more of the initial processing limits established for the EPEB wafer.