Abstract: A method for inducing damage for gettering to the rear surface of a single crystal silicon wafer by polishing the rear surface, which can provide a good gettering effect to the wafer and can also depress dusting characteristics of the rear surface of the wafer, is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of; moving the wafer on an abrasive cloth relatively, and supplying an abrasive liquid having a pH in the range of 4-9 which contains silica particles having an average diameter in the range of 0.1-10 .mu.m as abrasive grains, between the wafer and the abrasive cloth.

Abstract: An improved and highly productive method is proposed for the preparation of an epitaxial wafer (EPW) consisting of a single crystal silicon wafer as the substrate having a mirror-polished surface and an epitaxial layer of silicon formed on the mirror-polished surface of the substrate by the method of vapor-phase growing. Different from conventional methods in which the mirror-polishing of the substrate surface is conducted in several steps including, usually, the primary, secondary and finish polishing steps taking a great deal of labor and time, it has been unexpectedly discovered that an EPW having excellent properties not inferior to those conventional EPWs can be obtained by conducting the mirror-polishing with the primary polishing only omitting the subsequent steps provided that the thus mirror-polished surface of the substrate has a surface roughness RMS in the range from 0.3 to 1.2 mm.

Abstract: The work of grinding of a silicon wafer is carried out in an etchant containing no loose abrasive and permitting selective etching of deformed layers existent in the surface part of said wafer. The removal of the deformed layers and the heavy metals from the wafer is effected simultaneously and quickly owing to the execution of the work of grinding in the etchant and the consequent synergism of the work of grinding and etching.

Abstract: An optical recording medium which is constructed in a manner such that a plurality of recording areas in which an information signal is recorded along vortical spiral tracks are arranged in a ring shape on a recording surface and a vortex direction of the spiral track of the outside recording area among the plurality of recording areas differs from that of the spiral track of the inside recording area. When the information signal is recorded to the recording medium, the first writing device executes the writing operation from the outer rim side toward the inner rim side of the spiral track of the outside recording area and the second writing device executes the writing operation from the inner rim side toward the outer rim side of the spiral track of the outside recording area.

Abstract: The present invention provides a device for handling wafers with every group of more than one that is built in a cassette-less automatic wafer cleaning apparatus, wherein the group of wafers are washed at a time which does not require very high accuracy in positioning the wafers and may accommodate the wafers of any different diameters, the device for handling wafers comprising: external hollow shafts and internal shafts inserted and freely slidable within the inside of the external hollow shafts; a drive mechanism, wherein each pair of the external hollow shafts and the internal shafts are movable in their respective opposed directions by the same distances with a timing belt and a drive motor for driving the timing belt; a pair of handling members respectively held fast at pairs of ends side by side of each pair of the external hollow shafts and the internal shafts; and a plurality of supporting structures holding the wafers provided on the respective opposed surfaces of handling members.

Abstract: A wafer holder for handling wafers, particularly during a vapor drying process during automated wafer processing, provides for change of the diameter of the wafers to be held without replacement of one wafer holder with another in a wafer processing apparatus. The wafer holder is a unitary structure having a plurality of wafer holding portions, each wafer holding portion having a geometry appropriate to a single wafer diameter which differs from the diameter of wafers to be held by other wafer holding portions of the unitary structure. The wafer holder is preferably secured onto a robot arm in the wafer processing apparatus and can be rotated in orientation by a mechanical linkage in the robot arm in order to receive and hold wafers of a specific diameter being processed in the wafer processing apparatus at any given time.

Abstract: A method for handling wafers one at a time for processing without the necessity for transporting the wafers in a carrier such as a wafer cassette or basket. After a manufacturing step such as a polishing step, the wafers are carried to a loader assembly in a horizontal orientation under the influence of flowing liquid. The wafers are then individually erected into a vertical orientation by being first stopped by stopper pins which stand vertically on a wafer receiving plate of a suction arm including a suction nozzle which firmly holds the wafers while the arm is pivotally rotated until the wafer is positioned into a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation thus achieved allows the wafer to be gripped by a wafer gripping portion of a transportation robot including grooved gripping arms operated by a mechanism which limits the force applied to the wafer.

Abstract: A wafer cleaning tank including a tank body containing therein a cleaning solution, and wafer supporting device for substantially vertically supporting at least one wafer in the tank body, wherein the wafer supporting device includes a pair of confronting fixed wafer support members disposed in the tank body with a predetermined space therebetween and each having at least one side wafer-supporting portion, and a movable wafer support member vertically movably disposed centrally between the fixed wafer support members at a level below the fixed wafer support members and having at least one central wafer-supporting portion corresponding in position to the position of the side wafer-supporting portion of each of the fixed wafer support members, and wherein the side wafer-supporting portions and the central wafer-supporting portion jointly form a three-point support structure which supports the wafer at three points on the outer edge thereof.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for high-flatness etching a semiconductor single crystal wafer wherein said wafer is so rotated in a flow of an ethchant radially spreading in a plane that the main surface of said wafer may move parallelly with the flow of said etchant.

Abstract: A wafer which allows manufacture of a device to proceed at an exalted yield by preventing the resolution of exposure at the step of photolithography during the manufacture of the device from being impaired is obtained by a method which comprises a slicing step for slicing a single crystal ingot thereby obtaining wafers of the shape of a thin disc, a chamfering step for chamfering the wafer obtained by the slicing step, a lapping step for imparting a flat surface to the chamfered wafer, an etching step for removing mechanical strain remaining in the lapped wafer, an obverse surface-polishing step for polishing one side of the etched wafer, and a cleaning step for cleaning the polished wafer, which method is characterized by interposing between the etching step and the obverse surface-polishing step a reverse surface-preparing step for preparing the shape of the reverse side of the wafer.

Abstract: An automatic cleaning apparatus cleans wafers one at a time without the necessity for transporting the wafers in a carrier such as a wafer cassette or basket. After a manufacturing step such as a polishing step, the wafers are carried to a loader assembly in a horizontal orientation under the influence of flowing liquid. The wafers are then individually erected into a vertical orientation by being first stopped by stopper pins which stand vertically on a wafer receiving plate of a suction arm including a suction nozzle which firmly holds the wafers while the arm is pivotally rotated until the wafer is positioned into a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation thus achieved allows the wafer to be gripped by a wafer gripping portion of a transportation robot including grooved gripping arms operated by a mechanism which limits the force applied to the wafer.

Abstract: A scrubber cleaner for cleaning the unsucked face and peripheral chamfers of a semiconductor wafer. A wafer holder capable of holding the wafer by vacuum suction and turning the wafer circumferentially, and including a wafer suction head for fixing the wafer on it and a motor to rotate the suction head. A brush assembly including a rotatory plate having a brushing surface on one side consisting of a flat ring portion and a side-of-cylinder portion, and being capable of shifting axially and in radial directions; a motor for rotating the rotatory plate circumferentially; an air cylinder for shifting the rotatory plate axially; and another air cylinder for shifting the rotatory plate in radial directions.

Abstract: A method for writing data to and reading data from an optical disk that has address information written on its land between grooves or in its pregrooves. Because data is written to and read from the pregrooves or land where no address is written, continuous signals can be written to and read from the disk without format change. Further, the data area is widened by the amount of the nonexistent address area.

Abstract: On the phase change optical information recording medium, a plurality of protection pits each smaller than one pit on the pre-pit region are provided over the entire data region of the recording film at least on its surface. Therefore, even when overwriting is repeatedly performed, the reproduced data waveform is distorted less frequently and data error is reduced. By forming the group of protection pits, the adhesive strength between the phase change recording film and the protective film can be increased, and the reliability of exfoliating strength can be improved.

Abstract: A thin film forming method includes the steps of preheating a plurality of base plates placed at a first position, sequentially picking up the base plates one by one and positioning a picked-up base plate at a second position, heating the picked-up base plate at the second position so that a temperature of the picked-up base plate becomes approximately equal to a predetermined temperature, moving the picked-up base plate from the second position to a third position, and growing a thin film on a surface of the picked-up base plate at the third position.

Abstract: A method of automatically chamfering a wafer and an apparatus therefor are disclosed. The method comprises the steps of supplying a wafer, positioning and setting the wafer on working stages, chamfer-machining the wafer on the working stages, and recovering the wafer, all the steps being continuously performed on a full-automatic basis. The apparatus comprises a wafer supply means, a wafer positioning and setting means, a chamfer-machining means for the wafer, a wafer recovering means, and a wafer transferring means. Since the method and apparatus therefor enables performance of a series of those operations on a continuous and full-automatic basis, it is possible to enhance the operating efficiency and machining ability and, at the same time, to achieve manpower reduction.

Abstract: An automatic cleaning apparatus for disks is provided with detachable sections including, in order, a workpiece feeder section, an isolation section, a scrubber section, a second isolator section, and a workpiece receiver section. Additional units of any section may also be assembled into the cleaning apparatus. Transfer of cleaning liquid from one section to another is minimized by adjustment of a weir on each section to establish a constant liquid level in each section. Additionally, turbulence at the opening from one section to another is reduced by use of a thin shutter closed by an apertured press piece. Improved arrangements for introducing workpieces into the cleaning fluid, scrubbing the workpieces, recovering the workpieces from the fluid and transporting the workpieces within the cleaning fluid are provided so that the entire scrubbing process can be carried out automatically and with minimum contamination or damage of the workpieces.

Abstract: An optical disk and method of preparing it in which a macromolecular substrate has information bits mechanically formed on its surface and a reflective metallic reflective film is deposited thereover. The grain size of the metallic reflective film is kept to less than 50 nanometers by depositing at a rate of no more than 1.5 nanometers per second.

Abstract: A method for recording and reproducing data on an optical disk of a phase-change type which is capable of being over-written, comprising steps of: writing the data by a writing light beam, erasing the written data by an erasing light beam, and reading the written data by a reading light beam, characterized by a step for initializing the optical disk so that a width of an initialized region is wider than the diameter of a spot written by the writing light beam on the optical disk.

Abstract: An optical disk and method of preparing it in which a macromolecular substrate has information bits mechanically formed on its surface and a reflective metallic reflective film is deposited thereover. The grain size of the metallic reflective film is kept to less than 50 nanometers by depositing at a rate of no more than 1.5 nanometers per second.