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Samsung patents wafer holder that tilts using air pressure

Samsung has been granted a patent for a machine part used to hold silicon wafers during chip manufacturing. The device uses a flexible air-filled component to tilt the wafer holder at specific angles, allowing for precise processing of the semiconductor material.

Why it mattersThis filing describes a specific mechanical adjustment for factory equipment, which is a routine improvement in semiconductor manufacturing processes rather than a consumer-facing feature.

In the filing’s own words

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprises mounting a carrier substrate and a wafer on a wafer chuck of a wafer chuck apparatus, the carrier substrate and the wafer attached to each other, injecting air into an air member by selectively controlling at least one air injection pipe connected to the air member of the wafer chuck apparatus, tilting the wafer chuck to a predetermined angle in response to the air being injected into the air member, processing the wafer while the wafer chuck is tilted, determining whether to change a tilt angle of the wafer chuck or a position of the wafer, adjusting an amount of air injected into the air member according to a changed tilt angle of the wafer chuck or a changed position of the wafer, and processing the wafer after adjusting of the amount of air in the air member.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A wafer chuck apparatus comprising: a rotatable support portion made of a metal material and having a circular upper surface; a wafer chuck having a disk shape positioned on the rotatable support portion and having a plurality of vacuum channels therein; an air member disposed between the rotatable support portion and the wafer chuck and connected to an external pump, the air member configured to extend in response to receiving a fluid from the external pump; and a hinge rotatably connecting the wafer chuck and the rotatable support portion to one another and connected to the plurality of vacuum channels at a center of a lower portion of the wafer chuck and connected to a vacuum pump through a vacuum suction pipe.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Wafer chuck apparatus with air member and method of fabricating a semiconductor device using the same
Patent number
US12740371B2
Application number
18202892
Filed
May 27, 2023
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
12

Classified under

H10P 72/50 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/7616 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/7624 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/78 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.