Direct Electrostatic Levitation and Propulsion of Silicon Wafer

A new type of contact-less wafer manipulator, featuring "Direct Electrostatic Levitation and Propulsion of Silicon Wafer" (DELP-SW), has been successfully developed. The novel aspect of this manipulator is that a silicon wafer can be directly levitated and driven via electrostatic forces. In this paper, a brief review of basic principles is presented. This is followed by a description of the structure of a prototype DELP-SW mechanism, including electrode design, position feedback control method, driving principle and the operational procedure. Experimental results which demonstrate completely contact-less transportation of a 8-inch silicon wafer are also presented.