| 摘要 |
<p>A wafer holder (20) is provided for semiconductor wafer processing that is particularly useful where wafers are held and moved in other than upwardly facing orientations during handling and processing. The holder includes an annular wafer mounting ring (12) that is resiliently mounted to and biased against an annular wafer holder housing (11). A set of latches (20) is pivotally mounted to the mounting ring. The latches are formed of non-metallic latch bodies (31) and have non-metallic front and back rollers (35, 36) thereon which have rolling peripheries (37, 39) that roll over the surface of the mounting ring, along a circular path on which are formed spherical detents (42-44). The rolling peripheries of the rollers conform to the curvature of the detents. The front roller also has a gripping periphery (40) at the outer edge thereof that rolls onto the edge of a wafer held in the holder against the edge of the mounting ring. The mounting ring forms a seal with the backplane of the processing apparatus to prevent plasma from forming around the latches. The mounting ring also registers against a stop to space the wafer from the backplane to protect the device side of the wafer when backside wafer processing is being carried out.</p> |
