The ATI PURA-100, solar wafer cleaning and detach system provides a consistent automated cleaning and detach process following wire saw slicing of thin solar wafers.
Common industry practice requires three separate procedures, a pre-cleaning, followed by wafer detachment and then a final clean, before the wafers could be further processed into solar cells..
Now, a single tool, Automation Technology’s PURA-100, performs these tasks automatically in one efficient process, while requiring a fraction of the floor space needed of other technologies
OVERVIEW
The Pura 100 accepts the sliced wafer ingot directly from the wiresaw using existing handling equipment.
The onboard motorized ingot loader interfaces with the ingot handling equipment simplifying loading for the operator while insuring safety of the wafer comb.
The process chamber holds up to 2 ingots and clean / detach process time is approximately 60 minutes whether 1 or 2 ingots are processed. One PURA-100 has the cleaning capacity to support multiple wire saws.
Once loaded and started, the cleaning and detach process is completely automated.
The PURA-100 uses ATI’s patent pending “hydro-sweep” technology, which was developed to provide thorough, on-the-beam cleaning of fragile Solar wafers without damage. This process effectively eliminates all slurry from the surface of each wafer and during the chemical wash cycle, fine dust and residual organic films are also removed, using a surfactant.
The PURA’s PLC controlled process is optimized for specific slurry types and provides consistent results.
To reduce waste volume and conserve energy, hot detachment fluid is stored on-board the tool and continually re-used.
After process completion, the support beam and wiresaw tooling are quickly removed, leaving clean wafers in a secure cage, ready for further processing.
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