LOCKING FRAME HOLDER AND WORKPIECE LOADER FOR WET CHEMICAL SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
A workpiece holder and an apparatus for loading workpieces onto the holder for use in wet chemical semiconductor processing is described. The workpiece holder comprises two perimeter seal plates, electrical contact inserts and a locking plate. The perimeter seal plates provide force for both fluid sealing and electrical contact when the locking plate is in a locked position. The locking plate also functions as an electrical bus to provide current to the electrical contact inserts. The workpiece loader comprises a stage to insert or remove a workpiece from the workpiece holder. The loader also comprises vacuum chucks to position the perimeter seal plates prior to loading and to compress the perimeter seal plates during locking and unlocking.
1 . A workpiece holder for holding a substantially planar, quadrilateral workpiece in a processing chamber of a wet or semiconductor processing system, the workpiece holder being adapted for insertion into and removal from the processing chamber while holding the workpiece,
wherein the workpiece holder comprises:
a support frame,
first and second perimeter sealing plates attached to the support frame, each of the first and second perimeter sealing plates having respective interlocking features attached thereto, and
a locking plate, the locking plate being moveable relative to the support frame between a locked configuration in which the locking plate engages with the interlocking features of both the first and second perimeter sealing plates, and an open configuration in which the locking is disengaged therefrom, wherein in the open configuration the first and second perimeter sealing plates may be separated sufficiently to allow the workpiece to be inserted therebetween, and in the locked configuration the workpiece is clamped relative to the support frame, and
wherein each of the first and second perimeter sealing plates comprises a flexure biased to provide sealing force to the workpiece when the locking plate is in the locked configuration.
2 . The workpiece holder of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of internal contact plates located between the first and second perimeter sealing plates,
the internal contact plates providing electrical contact to the workpiece when the locking plate is in the locked configuration.
3 . The workpiece holder of claim 2 , in which the locking plate is in electrical connection to the internal contact plates.
4 . The workpiece holder of claim 1 , where the first and second perimeter sealing plates are fabricated from stainless steel coated with a fluorinated polymer selected from the group comprising FKM materials, Viton®, polytetrafluoroethylene and ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene.
5 . The workpiece holder of claim 1 , where the first and second perimeter sealing plates are fabricated from a polymer, optionally the polymer comprises polyether ether ketone.
6 . The workpiece holder of claim 2 , where the internal contact plates are separable from the first and second perimeter sealing plates.
7 . A semiconductor processing system for processing a substantially planar, quadrilateral workpiece while loaded into the workpiece holder of claim 1 , the system comprising:
a processing chamber for wet chemical etch, cleaning or electrodeposition, and
a workpiece loader for loading the workpiece into the workpiece holder during a loading operation.
8 . The semiconductor processing system of claim 7 , wherein the workpiece loader comprises:
first and second chucks,
an end effector, and
an activation system for sliding the locking plate between the locked and open configurations;
wherein the first and second chucks are configured to grip the first and second perimeter sealing plates, separating them sufficiently so that the end effector and workpiece may be inserted into the workpiece holder; and
wherein the first and second chucks are configured to provide sufficient force to the first and second perimeter sealing plates so that the locking plate can be inserted between the interlocking features.
9 . The semiconductor processing system of claim 9 , wherein the workpiece loader comprises an alignment system for aligning the workpiece with respect to the workpiece holder prior to inserting the workpiece into the workpiece holder.
10 . The semiconductor processing system of claim 9 , wherein the workpiece loader comprises a rotation actuator for rotating the workpiece holder between a substantially horizontal configuration and a substantially vertical configuration.