TUBULAR OR OTHER MEMBER FORMED OF STAVES BONDED AT KEYWAY INTERLOCKS

摘要

A tubular member (80) formed of silicon staves (82, 86) and arranged in a circular pattern to form a central bore in which a wafer support tower (20) can be inserted for batch thermal processing in an oven. The staves are formed along an axis with an interlocking keyway structure in which axially extending hooks (80, 88) engage axially extending catches formed in back of the hooks on neighboring staves. An adhesive, such as a silica-forming agent and silicon powder, coat the keyway structure before assembly and is cured after . assembly, so as to bond the staves together. A similar structure may be used to form a plate structure from an array of smaller parts (110, 112) with interlocking structure (114, 116) formed between neighboring parts.