Substrate-supporting device

1. A substrate-supporting device for CVD comprising:

a substrate-supporting region for supporting a substrate within the region, said substrate-supporting region having an outer diameter larger than that of the substrate and consisting of a high elevation region and a low elevation region, wherein

the high elevation region consists of a single continuous substrate-supporting surface defined on a reference plane on which the substrate is placed, said high elevation region extending from outer perimeters of the low elevation region to the outer diameter of the substrate-supporting region; and

the low elevation region consists of geometrically patterned multiple dimples having bottom surfaces lower than the reference plane, the respective dimples being isolated from each other by a portion of the substrate-supporting surface as viewed from above the substrate-supporting surface, all of the dimples having closed bottoms.

2. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface has an area which is less than 50% of that of the substrate-supporting region.

3. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 2 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface has an area which is about 20% or less of that of the substrate-supporting region.

4. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein each dimple has a circular shape on the reference plane.

5. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 4 , wherein the number of the multiple dimples is three or more.

6. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 5 , wherein every three dimples adjacent to each other are arranged such that imaginary lines connecting respective centers of the three circular shapes form an equilateral triangle.

7. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein each dimple has a rectangular shape.

8. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 7 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface is shaped into cross stripes.

9. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface has a peripheral area on the reference plane which has no dimple.

10. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate-supporting region has multiple lift pin holes.

11. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface has a surface roughness (Ra) of about 1 μm or less.

12. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate-supporting surface is constituted by an anodized oxide film formed on an aluminum or aluminum alloy.

13. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the dimples have a depth of about 0.05 mm to about 1.0 mm.

14. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , further comprising an outer peripheral area outside the substrate-supporting region, said outer peripheral area having a height which is higher than the reference plane.

15. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 14 , wherein the outer peripheral area has multiple holes for fastening screws.

16. The substrate-supporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the dimples have substantially the same depth.

17. A CVD apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate, comprising:

a vacuum chamber;

a gas inlet port installed in the vacuum chamber for introducing a gas into the vacuum chamber; and

the substrate-supporting device of claim 1 being installed in the vacuum chamber.

18. The CVD apparatus according to claim 17 , further comprising a heater on which the substrate-supporting device is mounted and fixed with screws.

19. The CVD apparatus according to claim 17 , which is a plasma CVD wherein the gas inlet port is a shower plate serving as one electrode, and the substrate-supporting device is installed practically parallel to and facing the shower plate and serves as another electrode.