Ceramic Paddle
AssigneeSaint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc.
InventorsScott A. Kaempfe, Michael P. Kenney, Karen A. Dwyer, Peng Zhang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A paddle for the production of semiconductor wafers is provided. The paddle can be a cantilever paddle made of a ceramic such as silicon carbide and can be used with round or square wafers, such as photovoltaic wafers. The paddle exhibits excellent deflection and strength characteristics.
Claims27
A wafer paddle comprising:
- a handle;
- and
- a double-walled load zone constructed and arranged to support a plurality of wafers, the load zone having a cross-section that includes an upper wall and a lower wall wherein the upper wall defines a channel that has a depth that is at least 30% of the height of the load zone.
(canceled)
(canceled)
(canceled)
A method of processing a wafer comprising:
- loading greater than 20 kg of wafers onto a silicon carbide wafer paddle having a handle that has a cross sectional area of less than 58 cm2, wherein the paddle deflects less than 20 mm under a load of greater than 20 kg;
- sliding the paddle into a furnace tube;
- and
- processing the wafers.
(canceled)
21-41. (canceled)
A method of inserting and removing a loaded wafer paddle without damaging the structure of the paddle, the method comprising:
- loading a paddle with greater than 20 kg of silicon wafers;
- inserting the loaded paddle into a furnace;
- and
- removing the loaded paddle from the furnace at a rate of greater than 300 mm/min wherein the furnace is at a temperature greater than or equal to 700° C.
44-46. (canceled)
48-49. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.