Patents by Inventor Tatsuya KUNO

Tatsuya KUNO has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240153809
    Abstract: A member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a ceramic plate; a composite plate joined to a lower surface of the ceramic plate; a cooling plate formed of a metal material, disposed on a lower surface of the composite plate; a first fastener that fastens the composite plate and the cooling plate; a support plate that is formed of an insulating material and supports a lower surface of the cooling plate; and a second fastener that fastens the cooling plate and the support plate, wherein, when the ceramic plate is heated from room temperature to high temperature, a first layered body including the ceramic plate and the composite plate deforms such that a central portion of the first layered body is convex, and a second layered body including the cooling plate and the support plate deforms such that a central portion of the second layered body is convex.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Masaki ISHIKAWA, Tatsuya KUNO, Taro USAMI
  • Publication number: 20240136219
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes: a ceramic plate including a wafer placement portion having a reference surface on which a number of small protrusions are provided; a cooling plate including a refrigerant flow path; a joining layer with which the ceramic plate and the cooling plate are joined; a recessed groove provided in the reference surface and having a bottom surface positioned lower than the reference surface; a plug arrangement hole passing through the ceramic plate and being open to the bottom surface of the recessed groove; a porous plug disposed in the plug arrangement hole, the porous plug having a top surface positioned at the same height as the bottom surface of the recessed groove and allowing gas to flow; and a gas supply path through which gas is supplied to the porous plug.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2023
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Applicant: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20240128063
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes a ceramic plate that has at least a wafer placement part at an upper surface thereof, a cooling plate that is joined to a lower surface of the ceramic plate and that has a refrigerant flow path, gas common paths that are provided above the refrigerant flow path, gas introduction paths that extend from a lower surface of the cooling plate to a corresponding one of the gas common paths, and a plurality of gas distribution paths, that are provided for the gas common paths. The gas distribution path that is disposed at an outermost periphery of the ceramic plate is provided at a position that does not overlap the refrigerant flow path in plan view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Masaki ISHIKAWA, Tatsuya KUNO, Tomoya INA
  • Patent number: 11951583
    Abstract: An electrostatic chuck includes a ceramic base, a ceramic dielectric layer, an electrostatic electrode, and a ceramic insulating layer. The ceramic dielectric layer is positioned on the ceramic base and is thinner than the ceramic base. The electrostatic electrode is embedded between the ceramic dielectric layer and the ceramic base. The ceramic insulating layer is positioned on the ceramic dielectric layer and is thinner than the ceramic dielectric layer. The ceramic insulating layer has a higher volume resistivity and withstand voltage than the ceramic dielectric layer, and the ceramic dielectric layer has a higher dielectric constant than the ceramic insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Takebayashi, Kenichiro Aikawa, Tatsuya Kuno
  • Patent number: 11948825
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes: an electrostatic chuck that is a ceramic sintered body in which an electrode for electrostatic adsorption is embedded; a cooling member which is bonded to a surface on an opposite side of a wafer placement surface of the electrostatic chuck, and cools the electrostatic chuck; a hole for power supply terminal, the hole penetrating the cooling member in a thickness direction; and a power supply terminal which is bonded to the electrode for electrostatic adsorption from the surface on the opposite side of the wafer placement surface of the electrostatic chuck, and is inserted in the hole for power supply terminal. The outer peripheral surface of a portion of the power supply terminal is covered with an insulating thin film that is formed by coating of an insulating material, the portion being inserted in the hole for power supply terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Kenichiro Aikawa, Hiroshi Takebayashi, Tatsuya Kuno
  • Publication number: 20240105428
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes a ceramic plate having a wafer placement surface and an electrode, a cooling plate made of a metal-ceramic composite and having a cooling medium passage, and a joining layer configured to join the plates. A distance from the wafer placement surface to at least one of upper base or lower base of the cooling medium passage is not constant. The cooling plate has a plurality of plate portions including a first plate portion and a second plate portion, and has a structure in which the plurality of plate portions metal-joined to each other. The first plate portion has a first passage portion which is a through groove having the same shape as the cooling medium passage. The second plate portion has a second passage portion which is a bottomed groove disposed in at least part of a region facing the first passage portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2023
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20240079218
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes an upper substrate; a lower substrate; a through hole extending through the lower substrate in an up-down direction; a plurality of projections provided in a dot pattern, for example, at an entirety of an upper surface of the lower substrate and being in contact with the lower surface of the upper substrate; a heat dissipation sheet having a projection insertion hole and being disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate; a screw hole provided, in the lower surface of the upper substrate, at a position facing the through hole; a screw member inserted from a lower surface of the lower substrate into the through hole and screwed into the screw hole; and a thermally conductive paste interposed, for example, between side surfaces of the projections and an inner peripheral surface of the projection insertion hole of the heat dissipation sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Taro USAMI, Masaki ISHIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20240079217
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes an upper substrate; a lower substrate; a through hole extending through the lower substrate in an up-down direction; a plurality of projections provided in a dot pattern, for example, at an entirety of an upper surface of the lower substrate and being in contact with the lower surface of the upper substrate; a heat dissipation sheet having a projection insertion hole and being disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate; a screw hole provided, in the lower surface of the upper substrate, at a position facing the through hole; a screw member inserted from a lower surface of the lower substrate into the through hole and screwed into the screw hole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Taro USAMI, Masaki ISHIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20240038567
    Abstract: A member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, includes: a ceramic plate that has a ceramic plate through hole; an electroconductive base plate that has a base plate through hole and that is disposed on a lower surface side of the ceramic plate; an insulating sleeve which is inserted into the base plate through hole and of which an outer peripheral surface is adhered to an inner peripheral surface of the base plate through hole via an adhesion layer; and a sleeve through hole that passes through the insulating sleeve in the up-down direction and that communicates with the ceramic plate through hole. The insulating sleeve has a tool engaging portion that is engageable with an external tool, and upon being engaged with the external tool, the tool engaging portion transmits rotation torque of the external tool to the insulating sleeve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiya INOUE, Tatsuya KUNO, Natsuki HIRATA, Kenji YONEMOTO
  • Publication number: 20230420282
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes a ceramic substrate that has a wafer placement surface on an upper surface, a first cooling substrate formed of a composite material of metal and ceramic or a low thermal expansion metal material, a metal joining layer that joins ceramic substrate and the first cooling substrate to each other, a second cooling substrate in which a refrigerant flow path is formed, a heat dissipation sheet disposed between the first cooling substrate and the second cooling substrate, a screw hole that opens in the lower surface of the first cooling substrate, a through hole that is provided at a position facing the screw hole and that extends through the second cooling substrate in an up-down direction, and a screw member that is inserted into the through hole from a lower surface of the second cooling substrate and that is screwed into the screw hole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Applicant: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Masaki ISHIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20230420230
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes an upper substrate including a ceramic substrate and having a wafer placement surface, a lower substrate disposed on a lower surface of the upper substrate including a refrigerant flow path or a refrigerant flow-path groove, a through hole extending through the lower substrate in an up-down direction to intersect with the refrigerant flow path or the refrigerant flow-path groove, a screw hole provided in the lower surface of the upper substrate, at a position facing the through hole, a screw member inserted from a lower surface of the lower substrate into the through hole and screwed into the screw hole, and a refrigerant-leakage prevention member that prevents the refrigerant from leaking out to the lower surface of the lower substrate through the through hole into which the screw member is inserted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Kuno, Masaki Ishikawa, Seiya Inoue
  • Publication number: 20230343564
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes a ceramic substrate having a wafer placement surface on an upper surface thereof and containing an electrode therein; a conductive substrate disposed adjacent to a lower surface of the ceramic substrate, serving also as a plasma generating electrode, and having the same diameter as the ceramic substrate; a support substrate disposed adjacent to a lower surface of the conductive substrate, having a greater diameter than the conductive substrate, and electrically insulated from the conductive substrate; and a mounting flange constituting a part of the support substrate and radially extending out of the conductive substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2023
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiya INOUE, Tatsuya KUNO
  • Publication number: 20230343566
    Abstract: A wafer placement includes an alumina substrate having a wafer placement surface at an upper surface, and incorporating an electrode; a brittle cooling substrate which is bonded to a lower surface of the alumina substrate, and in which a refrigerant flow path is formed; and a ductile connection member stored in a storage hole opened in a lower surface of the cooling substrate in a state of restricted axial rotation and in a state of being engaged with an engagement section of the storage hole, the ductile connection member having a male thread section or a female thread section, wherein the storage hole is provided in the refrigerant flow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2023
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20230343565
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes: a ceramic substrate having a wafer placement surface at an upper surface, and incorporating an electrode; a cooling substrate which is bonded to a lower surface of the ceramic substrate, and in which a refrigerant flow path is formed; a power supply terminal connected to the electrode; and a power supply terminal hole vertically penetrating the cooling substrate and storing the power supply terminal. The power supply terminal hole intersects with the refrigerant flow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2023
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20230317430
    Abstract: The wafer placement table includes a ceramic plate and a conductive substrate. The ceramic plate includes a plate annular portion at an outer circumference of a plate central portion having a wafer placement surface. The plate annular portion has an annular focus ring placement surface. The conductive substrate is provided on a lower surface of the ceramic plate and used as a radio-frequency source electrode. At the same height from the focus ring placement surface in the plate annular portion, a focus ring attraction electrode and a focus-ring-side radio-frequency bias electrode to which a bias radio frequency is supplied are embedded.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ikuhisa MORIOKA, Hiroshi TAKEBAYASHI, Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20230317432
    Abstract: In a wafer placement table, a cooling plate having a refrigerant flow channel is provided on a bottom surface side of a ceramic plate incorporating an electrode. A gas intermediate passage that is a horizontal space is provided parallel to a wafer placement surface at a location closer to the wafer placement surface than the refrigerant flow channel in the wafer placement table and has an overlapping part that overlaps the refrigerant flow channel along the refrigerant flow channel in plan view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20230317433
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes: a ceramic plate having a wafer placement surface on its upper surface and incorporating an electrode; an electrically conductive plate provided on a lower surface side of the ceramic plate; an electrically conductive bonding layer that bonds the ceramic plate with the electrically conductive plate; a gas intermediate passage embedded in the electrically conductive bonding layer or provided at an interface between the electrically conductive bonding layer and the electrically conductive plate; a plurality of gas supply passages extending from the gas intermediate passage through the electrically conductive bonding layer and the ceramic plate to the wafer placement surface; and a gas introduction passage provided so as to extend through the electrically conductive plate and communicate with the gas intermediate passage, the number of the gas introduction passages being smaller than the number of the gas supply passages communicating with the gas intermediate passage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiya INOUE, Tatsuya KUNO, Ikuhisa MORIOKA
  • Publication number: 20230298861
    Abstract: A member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes: a ceramic plate having a wafer placement surface on its upper surface; and a porous plug that is disposed in a plug insertion hole penetrating the ceramic plate in a up-down direction, and allows a gas to flow, wherein the porous plug has a first porous member exposed to the wafer placement surface, and a second porous member having an upper surface covered by the first porous member, the first porous member is higher in purity and smaller in thickness than the second porous member, and the second porous member is higher in porosity than the first porous member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2022
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiya INOUE, Tatsuya KUNO, Tomoki NAGAE, Yusuke OGISO, Takuya YOTO
  • Publication number: 20230290622
    Abstract: A member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, includes: a base substrate that has a wafer-placement-table support and a focus-ring-placement-table support; a focus-ring placement table that is joined to the focus-ring-placement-table support; a wafer placement table that is separate from the focus-ring placement table, that overlaps an inner peripheral portion of the focus-ring placement table in plan view, and that is joined to the inner peripheral portion of the focus-ring placement table and to the wafer-placement-table support; an internal space that is surrounded by a lower surface of the wafer placement table, an outer peripheral surface of the wafer-placement-table support, an inner peripheral surface of the focus-ring placement table, and an upper surface of the focus-ring-placement-table support; and a communication path that is provided at the base substrate and that causes the internal space and an outside of the base substrate to communicate with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi TAKEBAYASHI, Tatsuya KUNO, Seiya INOUE
  • Publication number: 20230238258
    Abstract: A wafer placement table includes a ceramic base having a wafer placement surface on its top surface and incorporating an electrode, a cooling base provided on a bottom surface side of the ceramic base, and a refrigerant flow channel groove provided in the cooling base so as to open at a bottom surface of the cooling base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2022
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiya INOUE, Tatsuya KUNO