Buffer station for wafer backside cleaning and inspection

A wafer processing station includes an air gap chuck and a light emitter/collector assembly configured to gather light when scattered or reflected by contaminants on the wafer. The light emitter/collector assembly is driven by an actuator so that it passes across a backside surface of a wafer when supported within the chuck during wafer inspection. The wafer processing station may also include a cleaning module configured to clean the backside surface of the wafer when contaminants are discovered during wafer inspection. A computer system may be coupled to receive one or more signals from the light emitter/collector assembly that are indicative of contaminants on the backside surface of the wafer and to provide one or more control signals to the cleaning module in accordance therewith. The cleaning module may be used independently of the light emitter/collector assembly and vice-versa