Importance

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Abstract

There is disclosed an apparatus for positioning a silicon wafer which comprises: two pieces of supporting boards, fixed to an upper plate, for supporting both side portions of the silicon wafer; an adsorbing disk, disposed in a vertically movable and rotatable manner between the supporting boards, for supporting the silicon wafer in its central position, this adsorbing disk having its upper surface formed with adsorbing holes; a holding member disposed in a vertically movable manner on the circumference of the adsorbing disk between the supporting boards, this holding member having a movable holder which moves inwards by pushing the edge of the silicon wafer when going up while raising the silicon wafer supported on the adsorbing disk; and a photoelectric detector, fitted to a part of the supporting boards, for detecting the edge of an orientation flat of the silicon wafer. The silicon wafer loaded on the supporting boards is raised while being adsorbed by the adsorbing disk. The edge of the ORIFLA is detected by the photoelectric detector provided on the supporting board while rotating the adsorbing disk. On the basis of the thus detected position of the ORIFLA, the adsorbing disk is further rotated through a given angle, thus positioning the silicon wafer so that the ORIFLA is adjusted to a predetermined position.

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First Claim