Precision CNC
Wafer Handling Grippers

Contact surfaces are polished to Ra 0.4 µm with no machining marks, burrs, or sharp edges. All contact edges are chamfered and micro-deburred. Material: hard-anodized Al 7075 (HV 400+ surface, no particle shedding) or PEEK (soft, non-scratching). Contact geometry (vee-groove, pocket) is dimensioned to support the wafer at the edge only — not the flat surface.

Standard solid Al 7075 300 mm gripper blank: ~120 g. With HXC's topology-informed pocket milling (removing all non-structural material while retaining stiffness at contact points and arm joints): 45–55 g is achievable. Ti Grade 5 hollow grippers: ~35 g with higher cost.

Contact pocket or vee-groove geometry is machined to IT5 tolerance. All contact positions are measured by CMM as a set — any height or position mismatch between contact points is corrected before the gripper is approved. Stiffness at the wafer contact zone is sufficient to resist deflection under wafer weight (300 mm wafer: ~130 g).

Three-point kinematic contact (two vee-grooves + one flat, or three vee-grooves) provides deterministic wafer location. Vee-groove angle: typically 90°, dimensioned for the wafer edge thickness. For vacuum-chuck grippers: HXC machines precision vacuum ports and O-ring grooves in the contact surface. Custom contact geometry for special wafer geometries (notch, flat, bevels) is standard.

Yes — two options: (1) Conductive Al with ESD coating: standard Al 7075 with a conductive anodize or ESD-specific coating (surface resistivity 10⁵–10⁸ Ω/sq); (2) ESD PEEK: carbon-loaded PEEK with stable ESD resistivity throughout the material. Both are cleanroom-compatible and particle-safe.

All gripper fingers in a set are measured by CMM for: contact surface height (all fingers within ±0.005 mm of each other), contact geometry position (within ±0.01 mm), and weight (matched within ±0.5 g). Fingers are serialised and shipped as a confirmed matched set — not as individual parts.

Yes — HXC machines integrated vacuum chuck ports with internal vacuum routing channels, O-ring sealing grooves at the wafer contact surface, and quick-connect ports for vacuum line attachment. The vacuum chuck face is machined to ≤ ±0.01 mm flatness to ensure uniform seal across the wafer contact zone.

Prototype: 6–9 days. Batch (20–100 pcs): 10–16 days. Matched 3-finger sets: +1 day for final matching inspection.