| CPC H01L 21/6838 (2013.01) [B25B 11/005 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
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1. A semiconductor manufacturing system, comprising:
a processing station configured to perform an integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing process on a substrate contained within a chamber of the processing station;
a vacuum chuck contained within the chamber and configured to hold the substrate, wherein the vacuum chuck comprises,
at least one vacuum groove located on a top surface of the vacuum chuck, wherein the top surface is configured to face the substrate, wherein the at least one vacuum groove is associated with a first plurality of pin holes, wherein each of the first plurality of pin holes is vertically aligned with the at least one vacuum groove, and wherein a respective one of the first plurality of pin holes is configured to allow a respective one of a first plurality of pins to extend upwardly and retract through the respective one of the first plurality of pin holes to raise and lower the substrate on the vacuum chuck; and
at least one flexible seal ring disposed on the vacuum chuck and extending outwardly from the top surface, wherein the at least one flexible seal ring is configured to directly contact a bottom surface of the substrate and is adjacent to the at least one vacuum groove so as to form a vacuum seal between the substrate and the vacuum chuck,
wherein the at least one flexible seal ring comprises a flexible seal ring that follows a contour of a peripheral edge of the vacuum chuck including a cutout region of the vacuum chuck, wherein the cutout region extends toward a center of the vacuum chuck so as to allow a mechanism to load and unload the substrate onto and from the vacuum chuck.
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