Abstract: The present invention relates to a non-contact holder for substantially planar workpieces, particularly suited for holding thin workpieces without substantial distortion. The present invention includes a cylindrical chuck having a gas inlet orifice positioned at an oblique. The introduction of pressurized gas creates a vortex and vacuum attraction holding a wafer in close proximity to the chuck while the gas exiting from the chuck prevents contact between wafer and chuck. Small diameter chucks located in close proximity help the present invention avoid distortion when processing very thin workpieces. The gas exiting from the chuck of the present invention exits preferentially in a certain angular direction. Chucks are arranged on the wafer holder such that exiting gas is preferentially directed radially towards the periphery of the holder and that exiting gas is directed between adjacent chucks, not directly at another nearby chuck.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a brim surrounding a wafer or wafer-like object during plasma etching in a non-contact wafer holder, such brim facilitating uniform flow of the plasma discharge around the edge of the wafer during plasma etching. The brim of the present invention avoids plasma instability and non-uniform flow typical of conventional plasma etching near the edges of the wafer being etched. The brim of the present invention, by facilitating uniform and stable plasma flows, decreases non-uniform etching. One embodiment of the present invention permits the brim to move in the axial direction from a position substantially. This permits the etching process to be controlled for more uniform and precise wafer etching as lowering the brim tends to shadow the edge region of the wafer from the plasma, reducing etching in the edge region while not significantly affecting etching in the central regions of the wafer.

Abstract: To fabricate back side contact pads that are suitable for use in a vertical integrated circuit, vias are made in the face side of a wafer, and dielectric and contact pad metal are deposited into the vias. Then the wafer back side is etched until the metal is exposed. When the etch exposes the insulator at the via bottoms, the insulator is etched slower than the wafer material (e.g. silicon). Therefore, when the dielectric is etched off and the metal is exposed, the dielectric protrudes down from the wafer back side around the exposed metal contact pads, by about 8 &mgr;m in some embodiments. The protruding dielectric portions improve insulation between the wafer and the contact pads when the contact pads are soldered to an underlying circuit. In some embodiments, before the contact pads are soldered, additional dielectric is grown on the wafer back side without covering the contact pads.

Abstract: An article holder uses a gas flow, for example, a vortex, to hold the article in a desired position. The gas flow is substantially restricted to an article portion reserved for handling. The result of the processing is less sensitive to the condition (e.g. temperature) of that portion than to the condition of the rest of the article. Therefore, if the gas flow affects the condition (e.g., temperature) of the article portion contacting the gas flow, the processing result is improved.

Abstract: To move an article in and out of plasma during plasma processing, the article is rotated by a first drive around a first axis, and the first drive is itself rotated by a second drive. As a result, the article enters the plasma at different angles for different positions of the first axis. The plasma cross-section at the level at which the plasma contacts the article is asymmetric so that those points on the article that move at a greater linear velocity (due to being farther from the first axis) move longer distances through the plasma. As a result, the plasma processing time becomes more uniform for different points on the article surface. In some embodiments, two shuttles are provided for loading and unloading the plasma processing system. One of the shuttles stands empty waiting to unload the processed articles from the system, while the other shuttle holds unprocessed articles waiting to load them into the system.

Abstract: An article holder generates a gas flow (for example, a vortex) to hold the article at a predetermined distance from the body of the holder. Pins extend from the body of the holder and physically contact an article surface to impede the article movement along the surface. As a result, the article is prevented from bumping against the locator pins surrounding the article when the holder accelerates.

Abstract: A plasma generation system includes one or more pairs of electrode units. Each electrode unit emits a plasma carrying gas along a respective axis. Each pair of electrode units is connected to an electric power supply that creates an electric discharge through the gas jets emitted by the two units. The axes of the two units define a "basic" plane. Each unit is associated with a magnetic circuit having two poles on the opposite sides of the basic plane. Each of these circuits is used to move the plasma gas jet emitted by the respective unit towards or away from the plasma jet emitted by the other unit of the pair of units. Therefore, these circuits control the angle at which the plasma jets meet. In addition, for each pair of the electrode units, a three-pole magnetic circuit is provided to move the plasma jets perpendicularly to the basic plane. The three poles of the magnetic circuit extend substantially along the basic plane.