Evacuated wafer container

Abstract

A container and a method of storing semiconductor wafers, wherein a closed container has sealed top and bottom portions of molded plastic material and uniquely adapted for storing semiconductor wafers, the container having, in one of its parts, a gas receiving stem and valve for removing a portion of the gaseous atmosphere within the container as to store the semiconductor wafers in a partial vacuum, one portion of the container may incorporate a thin wall of the molded container comprising a flexible membrane adjacent edges of the semiconductor wafers to be drawn against the wafers and hold them in place within the container; the walls of the closed container being covered with a diamond-like coating; and a method of storing semiconductor wafers by confining the wafers in a multipart container, sealing the container, and modifying the atmosphere within the container as by reducing the gas pressure within the container, changing the gaseous atmosphere in the container by, in some cases, substituting an inert gas for the air within the container, and relieving the vacuum pressure within the container as the container is to be opened, by supplying clean air into the container with minimial particulate.