SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING APPARATUS WITH SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVABLE STAGES
First Claim
1. An apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers, said apparatus comprising:
- a duality of stages, each said stage adapted for retaining a corresponding semiconductor wafer thereon,said duality of stages movable simultaneously in opposite directions while a processing operation is being carried out upon said semiconductor wafers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus provide for simultaneously moving multiple semiconductor wafers in opposite directions while simultaneously performing processing operations on each of the wafers. The semiconductor wafers are orientated in coplanar fashion and are disposed on stages that simultaneously translate in opposite directions to produce a net system momentum of zero. The die of the respective semiconductor wafers are processed in the same spatial sequence with respect to a global alignment feature of the semiconductor wafer. A balance mass is not needed to counteract the motion of a stage because the opposite motions of the respective stages cancel each other.
322 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers, said apparatus comprising:
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a duality of stages, each said stage adapted for retaining a corresponding semiconductor wafer thereon, said duality of stages movable simultaneously in opposite directions while a processing operation is being carried out upon said semiconductor wafers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for processing semiconductor wafers, said method comprising:
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providing an apparatus comprising a duality of stages; disposing a corresponding semiconductor wafer on each of said stages; simultaneously processing each of said corresponding semiconductor wafers while simultaneously moving said duality of stages in opposite directions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification