Patent ID: 6776289
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
A wafer carrier for holding wafers in a substantially horizontal arrangement, the wafers having a lower surface, the carrier having an open front, a backside, a top portion, a bottom portion, a left side and a right side, the carrier further comprising:a pair of wafer support columns extending from the top portion to the bottom portion, one support column located at the right side and an opposite one located at the left side, each wafer support column comprised of a plurality of vertically arranged elongate shelves, each shelf of each support column having an opposite shelf on the opposite column, each shelf having the lengthwise dimension extending in a direction from the front to the backside and comprised of at least two upwardly extending elongate beads oriented towards said shelf's respective opposite shelf for providing minimal contact with the lower surface of a wafer at each bead, each shelf and its respective opposite shelf further having an insertion level and a seating level for a wafer, whereby a wafer may be inserted into the carrier through the open front at an insertion level and lowered to sit on the upwardly extending beads at the seating level.