Keyed wafer carrier

Abstract

A structure for a chemical vapor deposition reactor desirably includes a reaction chamber having an interior, a spindle mounted in the reaction chamber, and a wafer carrier releasably mounted onto the spindle for rotation therewith. The spindle desirably has a shaft extending along a vertical rotational axis and a key projecting outwardly from the shaft. The wafer carrier preferably has a body defining oppositely-facing top and bottom surfaces and at least one wafer-holding feature configured so that a wafer can be held therein with a surface of the wafer exposed at the top surface of the body. The wafer carrier desirably further has a recess extending into the body from the bottom surface of the body and a keyway projecting outwardly from a periphery of the recess along a first transverse axis. The shaft preferably is engaged in the recess and the key preferably is engaged into the keyway.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 424,821, filed on Mar. 20, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to wafer processing apparatus, to wafer carriers for use in such processing apparatus, and to methods of wafer processing.[0003]Many semiconductor devices are formed by processes performed on a substrate. The substrate typically is a slab of a crystalline material, commonly referred to as a “wafer.” Typically, a wafer is formed by growing a large crystal and slicing the crystal into the shape of a disc. One common process performed on such a wafer is epitaxial growth.[0004]For example, devices formed from compound semiconductors such as III-V semiconductors typically are formed by growing successive layers of the compound semiconductor using metal organic chemical vapor deposition or “MOCVD.” In this process, the wafers ar...

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