CERAMIC HEATER WITH HEATER ELEMENT AND METHOD FOR USE THEREOF

摘要

A ceramic heater (10) for use as a platform or support in producing a semiconductor wafer (14) is described. In a exemplary embodiment, the heater is made from a ceramic compound which has a thermally conductive ceramic layer (12) and a ceramic heater element (16). The thermally conductive ceramic layer (12) is aluminum nitride doped with oxygen at such a level that it promotes thermal conductivity. The heater (10) may also have a thermally insulative ceramic layer (18) comprised of a mixture of aluminum nitride with a dopant at a level that makes the aluminum nitride thermally insulating. The heater element (16) may be embedded within the ceramic chuck in a variety of shapes and configurations. The heating element (16) is about 5% to about 50% by weight molybdenum disilicide, about 5% to about 40% by weight silicon carbide and about 15% to about 70% by weight aluminum nitride.