Patent ID: 8404049

Claim:
A barrel susceptor for supporting a plurality of semiconductor wafers in a heated chamber having an interior space, each of said wafers having a front surface, a back surface opposite said front surface and a circumferential side extending around the front surface and the back surface, a wafer thickness measured between the front surface and the back surface, the susceptor being sized and shaped for receipt within the interior space of the chamber and for supporting the plurality of semiconductor wafers, the susceptor comprising: a body having a plurality of faces arranged around an imaginary central axis of the body, each face having an outer surface with a top recess and a middle recess and one or more lower recesses adjoining and extending laterally inward into the body from the outer surface, each recess being surrounded by a rim, wherein the top recess and the middle recess have differing depths that equal the wafer thickness so that the front surface of the wafer is substantially flush with the surface of the top recess when the wafer is positioned in the middle recess; and at least one ledge along the middle recess having an upward facing support surface that is separate from the outer surface of the respective face to support the circumferential side of a wafer received in the middle recess.