Abstract: Provided herein is a wafer carrier comprising a disk and a pocket, wherein the pocket is centered in the disk and holds a wafer. Also provided is a method of processing or testing a wafer for a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of placing the wafer in the wafer carrier disclosed herein; loading the wafer carrier in a loadlock chamber; and transferring the wafer carrier from the loadlock chamber to a process chamber for processing or testing.

Abstract: A low pressure-high hydrogen flow rate process of cleaning a silicon wafer surface is described. The combination of process pressures below about 1 Torr with hydrogen flow rates up to about 3 SLM has been found to remove substantially all oxygen contamination from the silicon wafer surface at process temperatures less than about 800° C. without the use of a reactive gas. After processing at such process pressures and flow rates, even lower levels of oxygen contamination may be achieved by then increasing the process pressure, the hydrogen flow rate, and the process temperature, though the process temperature still remains less than 800° C. The combination of low pressure and high hydrogen flow rate can be achieved using a vacuum pumping speed of at least 30 cubic meters per hour. The present invention also describes an apparatus for cleaning a silicon wafer surface in which the processes of the present invention and other processes can be practiced.

Abstract: A low pressure-high hydrogen flow rate process of cleaning a silicon wafer surface is described. The combination of process pressures below about 1 Torr with hydrogen flow rates up to about 3 SLM has been found to remove substantially all oxygen contamination from the silicon wafer surface at process temperatures less than about 800° C. without the use of a reactive gas. After processing at such process pressures and flow rates, even lower levels of oxygen contamination may be achieved by then increasing the process pressure, the hydrogen flow rate, and the process temperature, though the process temperature still remains less than 800° C. The combination of low pressure and high hydrogen flow rate can be achieved using a vacuum pumping speed of at least 30 cubic meters per hour. The present invention also describes an apparatus for cleaning a silicon wafer surface in which the processes of the present invention and other processes can be practiced.