TWI440123B - Apparatus and method for carrying substrates - Google Patents

Description

Apparatus and method for carrying a substrate Cross-referenced related applications

The present application is derived from and is related to the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/783,614, which was issued on March 17, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein Apparatus and method for a substrate, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to the processing of semiconductors, and more specifically to the transport of wafers during the etching and precipitation process.

Plasma processing is widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices and non-semiconductor devices, which can be used with other semiconductor substrates (such as GaAs) or materials such as quartz, sapphire, or various metal materials. This process may involve precipitation of different materials or removal (etching) of these materials from the substrate. A photoresist mask is typically used to protect portions of the substrate from etching so that a pattern can be transferred to the surface of the substrate.

Exposure to plasma during processing exposes the substrate to an energy source in the form of ions and electrons. This energy causes heat to be stored in the substrate, which, if not effectively removed, causes an increase in the temperature of the substrate. This phenomenon may be advantageous in some processes, but, in general, excessive temperature rise can cause undesirable side effects such as photoresist degradation or poor device performance. In the case of high-density plasma sources such as inductively coupled plasma (ICP), heat generation becomes a more serious problem.

In order to be able to control the temperature during processing, a variety of techniques have been employed to remove heat from the substrate. The most commonly used technique is to introduce a gas between the substrate and a temperature-controlled substrate holder, thereby providing a means of conduction for removing heat. Helium is often chosen because it is an inert gas and has a high thermal conductivity in the gas. In order to be effective, helium must be present at a pressure of at least a few Torr, and since most of the plasma process is operated below this pressure, a device for sealing the helium behind the substrate is required. . This is accomplished by using a clamp device to hold the substrate in intimate contact with the holder. A mechanical clamp that is pressed onto the front side of the wafer can be used. However, due to the mechanical clamp being in contact with the front side of the substrate, mechanical clamps can cause problems that would damage the device or cause the generation of particles.

Another type of clamp device that is often used uses an electrostatic chuck (ESC). The substrate is clamped to the holder by electrostatic attraction from one or more spaced electrodes embedded in the substrate holder and clamped to where a high pressure is applied (Fig. 1). In order for the electrostatic clamp to function, the substrate must be electrically conductive (eg, aluminum) or partially electrically conductive (eg, tantalum, tantalum carbide, etc.). For example, an insulating substrate such as sapphire or quartz cannot be effectively clamped. The use of ESCs is widely accepted and used to fabricate devices on germanium wafers up to 300 mm in diameter.

It is known that the use of an ESC may cause some charge to remain on the substrate after the clamping process. Any residual charge will cause an attraction between the substrate and the holder. If the residual charge is large enough, the substrate cannot be easily removed from the holder, which may cause problems for the substrate handling mechanism. In a worse case, the substrate may be broken or broken. . A number of techniques have been described in the literature and are used to reduce problems such as damage and/or cracking (eg, ESC polarity reversal, various ESC voltage waveforms or mechanical assistance). Even if the residual charge is not completely eliminated, when the standard tantalum wafer is processed, the residual charge may have been reduced to a sufficiently low value, so that no handling problems are encountered.

In recent years, efforts have been made to improve the design and manufacture of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The design and manufacture of MEMS differs from standard tantalum devices in that very deep etching is often performed on a single substrate. The tantalum substrate used in the design and manufacture of MEMS is usually thinner than the "standard" substrate, and it is not uncommon to completely etch through the wafer, allowing the crucible section to be attached through a thin bundle or film. . The end result is that the wafer will be very fragile after processing. When using ESC to process these fragile wafers, any residual charge will create serious handling problems that will inevitably cause wafer cracking. This results in a loss of productivity due to the time required for the recovery system to repair the repairs required to break the wafer. When the wafer is coated with a dielectric film (for example, cerium oxide), the problem associated with residual charge becomes more serious because it is difficult to pass any non-conductive material to any accumulated charge. Sexualization. Such non-conductive structures are often encountered in the design and manufacture of MEMS devices.

The substrate is placed on a carrier for transport and handling to prevent cracking problems, but the problem of heat removal has not been overcome. Bonding the substrate to the carrier using a thermal paste or adhesive and clamping the carrier to the temperature control support by mechanical means or ESC provides the necessary temperature control (see US Patent Application No. of Weichart) 2006/0108231). However, such procedures have the necessity of removing the bonding process described in Weichart, which is rather time consuming and may result in contamination, and due to additional operational requirements, it is likely to be thinner or brittle. Material increases the chance of damage.

Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanism for handling fragile substrates that is compatible with techniques that provide the cooling effect necessary to allow plasma processing.

No prior art can provide the advantages of the present invention.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement to overcome the inadequacies of prior art devices and to provide a significant contribution to semiconductor processing techniques.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing, comprising: a substrate holder; a carrier for transporting the substrate to the substrate holder, wherein The substrate is positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner; and a clamping mechanism coupled to the substrate holder, wherein the clamping mechanism is configured to be in an inactive position and an active position Moving therebetween, whereby the substrate can be clamped to the substrate holder through the carrier when the jaw mechanism is in the active position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing, comprising: a substrate holder; a carrier for transporting the substrate to the substrate holder, Wherein the substrate is positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner; and an electrostatic clamp attached to the substrate holder, wherein the substrate is electrostatically transmitted through the carrier by electrostatic clamps Secure to the substrate holder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing, comprising: providing a substrate holder; providing an electrostatic clamp connected to the substrate holder; providing a a carrier; the substrate is placed on the carrier, the substrate is positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner; and the carrier having the unbonded substrate is transported to the substrate holder; The substrate is electrostatically clamped to the substrate holder by the electrostatic clamp through the carrier.

The above description has pointed out some of the outlines of the related objects of the present invention. These objects should be constructed to constitute only some exemplary scenarios of the salient features and applications of the present invention. Other advantageous results can be obtained by practicing the invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the invention. The other objects of the present invention will be more fully understood from the appended claims and appended claims.

For purposes of summarizing the invention, the present invention provides a carrier that is designed to carry at least one substrate and that can be placed on an ESC. The carrier is made of a material that allows the substrate to be electrostatically clamped through the carrier, which allows helium to be used behind the substrate, and helium can be used to provide the substrate during plasma processing. cool down.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing. The apparatus includes a carrier for transporting the substrate to a substrate holder within a plasma processing system. The substrate is positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner. The positioning of the unbonded substrate on the carrier can be maintained by a plurality of stop pins or a selective outer cover for creating a recess for the substrate. In addition, the cover can be integrated into the carrier or a separate component. The outer cover is designed to withstand the plasma that will be used to treat the substrate. A mechanical or electrostatic clamp is coupled to the substrate holder. The structure of the jaw mechanism is movable between an inactive position and an active position whereby the substrate is clamped to the substrate holder through the carrier when the jaw mechanism is in the active position. The carrier can be designed with a plurality of holes that allow conduction of gases such as helium for cooling the back side of the substrate during plasma processing.

Another feature of the invention is to provide an apparatus for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing. The apparatus includes a carrier for transporting the substrate to a substrate holder within a plasma processing system. The substrate is positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner. The positioning of the unbonded substrate on the carrier can be maintained by a plurality of stop pins or a selective outer cover for creating a recess for the substrate. In addition, the cover can be integrated on the carrier or a separate component. The outer cover is designed to withstand the plasma that will be used to treat the substrate. An electrostatic clamp is coupled to the substrate holder, and when the electrostatic clamp is activated, the electrostatic clamp can electrostatically clamp the substrate to the substrate holder through the carrier. Additionally, the carrier can be made of a dielectric material (e.g., alumina, alumina ceramic, sapphire, or quartz) to create an effective interaction with the electrostatic forces from the electrostatic clamp. The carrier can be designed with a plurality of holes that allow conduction of gases such as helium for cooling the back side of the substrate during plasma processing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing. The method comprises the steps of: providing a substrate holder; providing an electrostatic clamp coupled to the substrate holder; and providing a carrier. The substrate can be a MEMS substrate, and the substrate can have a dielectric film such as hafnium oxide. The substrate is placed on the carrier and positioned on the carrier in an unbonded manner. The positioning of the unbonded substrate on the carrier can be maintained by a plurality of stop pins or a selective outer cover that produces a recess for the substrate. In addition, the cover can be integrated on the carrier or a separate component. The outer cover is designed to withstand the plasma used to treat the substrate. A carrier having an unbonded substrate is transported to the substrate holder. The electrostatic clamp is then activated to electrostatically clamp the substrate to the substrate holder through the carrier. Additionally, the carrier can be made of a dielectric material (e.g., alumina, alumina ceramic, sapphire, or quartz) to create an effective interaction with electrostatic forces from the electrostatic clamp. The carrier can be designed with a plurality of holes that allow conduction of gases such as helium for cooling the back side of the substrate during plasma processing. In addition, the substrate may be made of a conductive material (for example: aluminum) or a portion of a conductive material (such as tantalum or tantalum carbide) to allow effective electrostatic clamping of the substrate when the electrostatic clamp is activated. .

The above description of the present invention has been set forth to provide a more broad and important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the invention can be more readily understood. In the following, additional features of the invention which form the subject matter of the invention are described. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be readily modified or designed in accordance with the disclosed concepts and particular embodiments. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that such equivalent structures are not departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Similar component symbols indicate similar components in several views of the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the fabrication of a typical electrostatic chuck as is well known in the prior art. As shown, a typical electrostatic chuck 20 includes a substrate support electrode 30 that is typically powered by an RF (radio frequency device) 40. However, a grounded substrate holder can also be used; The electrostatic member 50 is built up. The electrostatic member 50 is comprised of one or more electrodes 52 that are insulated from the support member 30 by a dielectric material 54. Moreover, the electrostatic member 50 is also bonded to the substrate by the same or different dielectric materials 54. Material 60 is insulated. A power supply 70 applies a voltage to the electrodes 52. This voltage is typically a dc voltage, but may be a periodic voltage, a polarity reversal voltage or a pulse voltage as is well known in the art. The applied voltage creates a static attraction to the substrate 60.

The magnitude of this force can be calculated from the following equation: F = e _o /2 * (V * e / (d + e * g)) ² where: F = generated electrostatic force (Pa) e _o = free space permittivity (8.85x10 ^{- 1 2} ) V = voltage difference between the substrate and the electrode e = dielectric constant of the dielectric layer d = thickness of the dielectric layer g = gap between the substrate and the surface of the ESC

A commonly used dielectric material is alumina (in the form of ceramic or sapphire) having a dielectric constant e of about 10. The thickness of the dielectric is a fraction of a millimeter (10 ^{- 4} to 10 ^{- 3} m), and the gap between the substrate and the surface of the ESC may be reduced to tens of microns (10 ^{- 6} to 10) ^{- 5} m). A voltage of 1000V is usually used. Parameters within these ranges will cause a clamping force in the range of a few kPa to a few tens of kPa, which allows helium pressure in the range of a few Torr to tens of Torr to be accommodated behind the substrate.

In order to maximize the clamping force experienced by the substrate, the carrier should be as thin as possible. In the above equation, the clamping force is inversely proportional to d ² . When a carrier is used, assuming that the ESC dielectric is similar to the carrier dielectric (ie, having a similar e value), then d represents the total dielectric thickness between the substrate and the ESC electrode. , which is the sum of the ESC dielectric and the thickness of the carrier. Since the thickness of the ESC dielectric is fixed, the clamping force is maximized if the thickness of the carrier is minimized. The factor of this limitation is the mechanical stability of the carrier. The carrier must be rigid enough that it will not bend, become bowed, or rupture during handling, otherwise all advantages of using one carrier will be lost. The thickness of the carrier depends on the size of the substrate being transported. For example, we have found that carriers suitable for 150 mm diameter tantalum wafers can be made from alumina ceramics having a thickness of 0.25 to 0.5 mm. Sapphires with similar thicknesses are also suitable. Carriers for larger substrates (200mm or 300mm diameter wafers) need to be slightly thicker, but even smaller materials are suitable for smaller substrates. For very thin carrier materials, it is also possible to have the carrier structure with a thinner central region in which the substrate is placed and a thicker surrounding region that increases mechanical strength. In this limited example, the inner region can be a film.

Although not part of the invention, the ESC can be modified to operate selectively with the carrier. The upper dielectric layer can be thinned or even omitted altogether to reduce the overall dielectric thickness. Generally, this is unsatisfactory because the thin dielectric layer easily causes electrical breakdown between the ESC electrode and the wafer; however, in this case, the thickness of the carrier dielectric can be prevented. Such a breakdown problem.

The carrier should have a larger diameter than the substrate, but it can also be easily transported by a general wafer handling robot. For example, a carrier designed to handle a 150 mm diameter wafer can be fabricated to have a diameter of 154 mm. Such a carrier can be easily handled without requiring too many changes to the handling mechanism. In fact, an additional advantage of this approach is that the same mechanism and the same plasma system can be used to handle the loaded and unsupported wafers without any changes.

As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention uses a carrier 100 to transport the substrate 60 to the support electrode 30 for performing a plasma treatment on an electrostatic chuck 20. The substrate 60 is placed onto the carrier 100 in an unbonded manner prior to plasma treatment. Second, a robot handling mechanism (not shown) is typically used to transport the carrier 100 and the unbonded substrate 60 into the plasma processing system (not shown). After the plasma treatment, the carrier 100 and the unbonded substrate 60 are removed from the plasma processing system and the substrate 60 is removed from the carrier 100.

The carrier 100 is made of a material that allows the substrate 60 to feel an electrostatic clamping force. Therefore, the material of the carrier 100 should be a dielectric material having characteristics similar to those of dielectric materials used in the structure of the electrostatic chuck 20. Materials such as alumina, alumina ceramics, sapphire and quartz are suitable dielectric materials, but alternative materials are not limited thereto. A conductive material such as aluminum is not suitable as the material of the carrier.

In order to provide cooling of the substrate 60 during processing, preferably, the pressure of the helium gas should be maintained between the substrate 60 and the carrier 100. Helium is typically introduced into the space behind the substrate 60 through holes in the substrate electrodes (not shown in Figures 1 and 2). An example of a carrier 100 having a plurality of holes 110 for conducting helium is shown in FIG. Therefore, in order to enable the helium gas to effectively communicate the interface of the substrate/carrier 100, a large number of holes 110 are formed in the carrier 100. The size and distribution of the holes 110 are not critical. For example, a series of 1 mm diameter holes 110 are spaced 10 mm apart and extend within 10 mm of the edge of the substrate 60. However, coating the bottom of the carrier 100 (ie, the side in contact with the electrostatic chuck 20) with a thin layer of conductive material at its outer edge (eg, 6 mm outside) may locally increase the substrate. The clamping force of the carrier 100, and thereby, enhances the sealing ability of the helium gas.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the substrate 60 is placed on the carrier 100, a plurality of stopper pins 120 may be provided around the carrier 100 in order to prevent the substrate 60 from moving. These stop pins can be separate pins 120, or they can be a continuous strip (the substrate 60 is located in a pocket). An example of a film supported by a surrounding ring can also be used as a wafer stop mechanism.

Using a carrier reduces cooling efficiency compared to directly clamping the wafer to the ESC. The decrease in cooling efficiency is due to an increase in the total dielectric thickness, which causes a reduction in the clamping force. In the case where the thickness of the carrier is equal to the dielectric thickness of the ESC, the total thickness is doubled, and therefore, the clamping force is reduced by one-fourth. Moreover, heat flow must occur across the two helium interfaces (substrate/carrier interface and carrier/ESC interface). Since the helium interface represents the largest thermal cracking, the overall cooling efficiency is reduced by one-half. Despite these limitations, the substrate is treated without the carrier and without clamping, or a carrier that does not allow the substrate to be electrostatically clamped (eg, using aluminum, other conductive materials, or a portion of conductive material) The cooling efficiency is still quite good in the case where the finished carrier will not allow the substrate to feel an electrostatic clamping force to handle the substrate. The increased cooling efficiency allows for the use of higher energy processes, which in turn provides a higher rate of etching (or precipitation) to the process, thereby increasing productivity and throughput.

For example, Figure 4 shows through a temperature versus time graph that the present invention may be used to increase cooling efficiency. The wafer temperature obtained when using an un-clamped carrier and thus no helium is used will exceed 120 ° C in about five minutes. This rise in temperature can result in an unusable process. Using a clamped sapphire or clamped alumina ceramic carrier and helium gas cooling, the same processing parameters produced a temperature of approximately 85 ° C even after fifteen minutes. This temperature rise and stability is low enough to produce good etching results.

As another example, a process has been developed to etch a deep trench into a crucible on a fragile MEMS device. The power input is limited such that the wafer temperature does not rise to a temperature that causes resist degradation. The procedure without clamping results in an etch rate that is less than one of one micron per minute. By using a wafer carrier and clamping it to an ESC, it is possible to maintain a backside helium pressure of 3 Torr, which allows a higher RF power to be used for plasma processing. As a result, an etch rate of more than 1.5 microns per minute can be easily achieved, which results in an over 50% increase in the output of this process.

As described above, the present invention is capable of operating for transporting a single thin wafer or fragile wafer, and can also be effectively used to transport a plurality of thin wafers or fragile wafers as shown in FIG. For many of the most recently ejected materials, such as SiC and GaN, in many cases, the available substrate size is limited to 2 inches or 3 inches in diameter. In order to ensure a wafer output rate that allows for economical device fabrication, multiple wafers (i.e., batch processing) must be processed at one time. In order to achieve the advantage of using a higher etch rate obtained from a high density source such as ICP, wafer cooling must also be provided for the above reasons. The use of mechanical clamps to clamp and cool more than one substrate in a single batch process is difficult to implement successfully and is prone to failure. Adhesive bonding of the substrates to the carrier (using adhesives or adhesive tape) provides effective cooling. However, the process of bonding and removing the bonding is quite time consuming, and when a thin or fragile substrate is used, it is unsatisfactory because of the problem of cracking by additional wafer handling. ESC clamping is possible, but the most straightforward way is to use a substrate holder that effectively contains x individual ESCs, where x is the number of substrates in the batch. This type of clamping is very expensive and can easily fail. Simply put, the probability of failure may be proportional to the number of individual ESCs.

With the present invention, more than one substrate can be placed on a single thin carrier 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, seven two inch substrates 60 can be placed on an eight inch diameter carrier 100, which can then be handled as described above. The individual substrates 60 are sandwiched by the material of the carrier 100, allowing for efficient cooling of the substrate 60. A plurality of holes 110 for helium may be formed in the carrier 100 behind each substrate 60, such as to allow gas to penetrate into the region and to enhance cooling of the substrate 60. If desired, as shown in FIG. 3, a wafer stop pin 120 can also be attached to the carrier 100. The surface of the carrier 100 between the substrates 60 is exposed to the plasma. If it is deemed that the exposure to the plasma is not desired, then one of the outer cover members 130 can be formed by coating or by a suitable material designed to fit the position of the substrate 60 as shown in FIG. The surface of the carrier 100 is protected. The cover member 130 can also serve as a wafer stop, and the cover member 130 can be made of a material such as quartz, tantalum carbide, or other selected material that is compatible with a particular process. In addition, the cover member 130 can constitute a separate exchangeable member that can be bonded to the wafer carrier 100 or fabricated as an essential component of the wafer carrier 100. And coating a bottom layer of the carrier 100 (ie, the side contacting the electrostatic chuck 20) with a thin layer of conductive material in the region between the substrate locations to locally increase the substrate to the carrier With a clamping force of 100, and thereby improve the sealing ability of helium.

The disclosure of the present invention includes the scope of the patent application and the subject matter of the above description. Although the present invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that In addition to the scope, changes can be made in the details of the structure, the combination and arrangement of the components, and the like.

20. . . Electrostatic chuck

30. . . Support member

40. . . F (radio frequency device)

50. . . Electric parts

52. . . pole

54. . . Electrical material

60. . . Substrate

70. . . power supply

100. . . vehicle

110. . . Hole

120. . . pin

130. . . Cover member

1 is a schematic illustration of a typical electrostatic chuck of the prior art.

2 is a schematic illustration of an electrostatic chuck having a substrate carrier of the present invention.

3 is a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a substrate carrier of the present invention having a plurality of holes for helium flow and a plurality of substrate stop pins that hold a single substrate.

Figure 4 is a graph of temperature versus time showing the improved cooling efficiency of the present invention.

5 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of a substrate carrier of the present invention that is capable of carrying a plurality of substrates and having a plurality of holes to enable helium gas to flow to the substrates on the carrier.

Figure 6 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of a substrate carrier of the present invention showing an outer cover.

20. . . Electrostatic chuck

30. . . Support member

40. . . RF

52. . . electrode

54. . . Dielectric material

60. . . Substrate

70. . . power supply

100. . . vehicle

Claims (24)

An apparatus for carrying at least one substrate for plasma processing, comprising: a substrate holder positioned within a plasma processing system; a removable carrier, wherein the substrate is An unbonded manner is positioned on the carrier; a recess for positioning the substrate in the recess in the removable carrier, wherein the position of the substrate is maintained in the removable On the carrier; a robot handling mechanism that transports the removable carrier along with the unbonded substrate into the plasma processing system and onto the substrate holder And a clamping mechanism coupled to the substrate holder, wherein the structure of the clamping mechanism is configured to move between an inactive position and an active position, whereby the clamping mechanism is in the In the active position, the substrate is clamped to the substrate holder via the removable carrier. The device of claim 1, wherein the carrier further comprises a plurality of holes that direct a gas to the back of the substrate. An apparatus for carrying a plurality of substrates for plasma processing, comprising: a substrate holder positioned within a plasma processing system; a removable carrier, wherein the plurality of substrates Positioning on the carrier in an unbonded manner; a plurality of pockets for positioning the plurality of the removable carriers Substrate in the plurality of pockets, wherein the plurality of substrates are maintained on the removable carrier; a robotic handling mechanism that attaches the removable carrier to the An unbonded substrate is transported into the plasma processing system and transported to the substrate holder; and an electrostatic clamp coupled to the substrate holder, wherein the plurality of substrates are borrowed The electrostatic chuck is electrostatically secured to the substrate holder via the removable carrier. The device of claim 3, wherein the carrier further comprises a dielectric material. The device of claim 4, wherein the dielectric material is selected from the group consisting of alumina, alumina ceramics, sapphire, and quartz. The device of claim 3, wherein the removable carrier is a film. The device of claim 3, wherein the removable carrier further comprises a plurality of detent pins, the plurality of substrates being positioned on the removable carrier by the plurality of detent pins. The device of claim 3, wherein the removable carrier further comprises a plurality of holes that direct a gas to the back of the plurality of substrates. The device of claim 3, wherein the removable carrier further comprises a conductive layer on at least a portion of the bottom of the removable carrier. A method for carrying at least one substrate for plasma treatment, The method comprises: providing a substrate holder positioned within a plasma processing system; providing an electrostatic clamp coupled to the substrate holder; providing a removable carrier; providing a a recess in the removed carrier for positioning the substrate in the recess in the removable carrier, wherein the position of the substrate is maintained on the carrier; placing the substrate on Among the pockets on the carrier, the substrate is positioned on the removable carrier in an unbonded manner; a robot handling mechanism is provided; the removable carrier is provided The unbonded substrate is loaded on the robot handling mechanism; the removable carrier along with the unbonded substrate is transported into the plasma processing system via the robot handling mechanism and On the substrate holder; and electrostatically clamping the substrate to the substrate holder via the electrostatic carrier via the removable carrier. The method of claim 10, wherein the carrier further comprises a dielectric material. The method of claim 11, wherein the dielectric material is selected from the group consisting of alumina, alumina ceramics, sapphire, and quartz. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is a MEMS substrate. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is a fragile substrate. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate further comprises a dielectric film. The method of claim 15, wherein the dielectric film is cerium oxide. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is electrically conductive. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is partially electrically conductive. The method of claim 18, wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of ruthenium and ruthenium carbide. The method of claim 10, wherein the removable carrier is a film. The method of claim 10, wherein the removable carrier further comprises a conductive layer on at least a portion of the bottom of the removable carrier. The method of claim 10, wherein the removable carrier further comprises a plurality of holes. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing a gas to the back of the substrate via a plurality of holes in the removable carrier. The method of claim 23, wherein the gas is helium.