System and method for substrate transport

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8992153-B2
Application number	US-49574009-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2009
Priority date	Jun 30, 2008
Publication date	Mar 31, 2015
Grant date	Mar 31, 2015

Abstract

Introduction of substrates into vacuum environment is accomplish by gradually reducing the number of substrates being transferred simultaneously as the clean and evacuated environment is progressed. Cassettes are maintained in clean atmospheric environment and do not enter the vacuum environment. Several vacuum locks are linearly staggered so as to introduce progressively higher level of vacuum environment. The number of substrates transported through this arrangement is a portion of the number of substrates present in each cassette. The staggered vacuum locks lead to a series of processing chambers, wherein a yet smaller number of substrates, e.g., one or two, are transported.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate processing system comprising:
a front end module having tracks for transporting cassettes, each cassette holding a first preset number of substrates therein;
a plurality of transport carriers;
a staggered vacuum lock module, introducing progressively higher level of vacuum environment, coupled to the front end module and having tracks for transporting the plurality of transport carriers between atmospheric environment and vacuum environment t…

Assignees

• Scollay Stuart
• Bluck Terry
• Chen Xiang
• Intevac Inc

Inventors

• Scollay Stuart
• Bluck Terry
• Chen Xiang

Classifications

• H10P72/3412

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10P72/3408

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10P72/13

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10P72/0456 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10P72/3314

  Electricity · mapped topic