CNC Machining for Semiconductor Equipment

Parts for semiconductor equipment are judged on surfaces and positions rather than on outline dimensions. A carrier plate that seats an array of components has to be flat enough that every position sits at the same height, its grid of openings has to be at the right accumulated pitch across the whole plate, and its edges have to be clean enough that nothing sheds onto the product it carries.

The parts we machine for this work are thin aluminum and stainless plates with dense hole and pocket patterns, fork-style transfer plates, matched carrier and nest plate sets, and brackets and mounts for handling equipment. The features that control them are flatness over the working area, position across the pattern, and edge condition.

Flatness is the number that trips these parts. A thin plate that measures flat in the vice can bow when it is released, so we rough, release, and finish with light passes and softer clamping, and we measure flatness on the granite plate after the part is free. Small openings and fine pitches are measured optically on the vision measuring system rather than with hand tools.

Send the drawing with the datum scheme and say which faces and openings are functional. On these parts the difference between a cosmetic edge and a functional one decides the process route, and we would rather know before we cut.