Patent ID: 8099817

Claim:
A side-contact roller for contacting one or more major surfaces of a wafer rotating within a wafer cleaner, comprising: a first and second guide surface, wherein each of the first and second surfaces is inclined and includes a low-friction material adapted to facilitate sliding a wafer edge between the sloped first and second guide surfaces; a first frictional planar surface adapted to achieve frictional contact with a first edge-adjacent region of a first major surface of the wafer; a second frictional planar surface adapted to achieve frictional contact with a second edge-adjacent region of a second major surface of the wafer; wherein the first and second frictional planar surfaces form the sides of a channel, such that an edge of the wafer may be accommodated between the first and second frictional planar surfaces; and wherein the first and second guide surface material is low-friction relative to the first and second frictional planar surfaces of the side-contact roller.