Transport and processing apparatus for thin wafers - wafer is suspended and cleansed by flow through capillaries

摘要

The wafer, (40) which has a thickness of about 1 mm and a diameter of six inches, is held in a cavity between an upper block (14) and a lower block (16). The lower block has a turntable (20) rotated by a drive motor (22). Both blocks have capillary tubes at right angles to the wafer surface and other tubes at the edges. Air or other cleaning media flow through the tubes to support the wafer in a 'floating' position, out of contact with the block surfaces. The gap between the blocks can be altered by raising or lowering the upper block. The cleaning medium is 'micro-filtered' to ensure thorough cleansing action.