Microelectronic workpiece support and apparatus using the support

A workpiece support includes a set of grooved members for supporting a series of workpieces. An outer perimeter of each workpiece may be beveled at both faces, beveled at one face, unbeveled, convex, or concave. Each grooved member has a series of similar grooves. Each groove has a bearing wall and a wedging wall shaped and oriented so that a line normal to the wedging wall intersects but is not normal to the bearing wall. For many applications, two grooved members are employed, which are parallel to one another, spaced from one another, and oriented so that the grooves of the grooved members are generally aligned. To this end, a first grooved member is oriented so that the front faces of the received workpieces bear against the bearing walls of the grooves of the first grooved member and so that the received workpieces touch the wedging walls of the grooves of the first grooved member. A second grooved member is oriented so that the back faces of the received workpieces bear against the bearing walls of the grooves of the second grooved member and so that the received workpieces touch the wedging walls of the grooves of the second grooved member. Thus, the workpieces received by the grooves of the grooved members are wedged so as not to tip, shake, or wobble.