Contact-Less Thin Substrate Transport Using Viscous Traction

A new contact-less transport system for thin and fragile products like silicon wafers is introduced. The product is carried on a thin film of air separating the product from the system, and is transported using the relative velocity of the pressurized and moving air film parallel and adjacent to the system surface. This innovative concept can produce both the high stiffness and acceleration required for high precision positioning and efficient product transport. In this paper the basic design principles of this system are presented. Experimental verification is demonstrated on a 6-dof planar air actuated high precision positioning stage.