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Single wafer load lock with internal wafer transport

a load lock and single-wallet technology, applied in the direction of lighting and heating apparatus, charge manipulation, furniture, etc., can solve the problems of increasing the number of constant-vacuum components, reducing the service life of the load lock, and not providing independent load loads in the present-day system

Inactive Publication Date: 2001-11-15
APPLIED MATERIALS INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In particular, present-day systems do not provide independent load loads which interface directly with process chambers.
Depending on the component, pump-down time may significantly limit throughput.
Thus, increasing the number of constant-vacuum components drastically increases downtime and, consequently, decreases throughput.

Method used

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  • Single wafer load lock with internal wafer transport
  • Single wafer load lock with internal wafer transport
  • Single wafer load lock with internal wafer transport

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

first embodiment

[0029] FIG. 2 is a partial cross sectional view of a toad lock 200 generally comprising a chamber body 202 having a transfer robot 204 disposed within a chamber cavity 201 preferably having a capacity of 10-12 liters. The chamber body 202 is defined by a cover 206, a bottom 208 substantially parallel to the cover 206, and a chamber wall 210 intermediate of the cover 206 and bottom 208. Preferably, the bottom 208 and chamber wall 210 comprise a monolith, i.e., they are machined or otherwise fabricated of a single piece of material. The cover 206 defines an aperture 212 through which wafers are vertically transferred into and out of the chamber cavity 201. Additionally, the cover 206 has a first sealing surface 214 which defines a sealing plane A. In the preferred embodiment, a vertically movable lid 216 having a second seating surface 218 is adapted to substantially cover the aperture 212 and form a seal with the first sealing surface 214. An O-ring 220 disposed on the lower side of ...

second embodiment

[0051] FIGS. 10a-10r is a series of partial cross sectional views describing the steps performed on wafers by the present invention. FIG. 10a shows the load lock 200 with the lid 216 and lift forks 420, 422 raised, and the lift elements 432, 434 of each pair of lift forks 420, 422 pointing toward one another. The lift forks 420, 422 are vertically offset from one another so that each is positioned to receive a wafer from the atmospheric robot blade 285. In this position, the atmospheric robot blade 285 retrieves a first wafer 500 from a proximately located wafer cassette (not shown) and inserts the wafer 500 between the raised lid 216 and the cover 206 and above the lift forks 420, 422 as shown in FIG. 10b. The first pair of lift forks 420 are then raised above the transfer plane of the blade 285 thereby causing the wafer 500 to be deposited onto the lift forks 420 as shown in FIG. 10c. A second wafer 502. shown in FIG. 10d, is similarly deposited onto the second pair of lift forks ...

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Abstract

The present invention provides a load lock having a vertically movable lid, an internal robot, and a wafer lifting mechanism and further provides a method of transferring wafers through a load lock directly to a process chamber. An atmospheric transfer robot shuttles wafers to and from the lifting mechanism while the lid is raised and the lifting mechanism then transfers wafers to and from the internal robot. The load lock is directly attached to a process chamber and communicates therewith via a slit valve which is selectively opened and closed. The internal robot is extended and retracted through the slit valve aperture in order to transfer a wafer to and from the process chamber. In one embodiment the lifting mechanism is comprised of vertically movable lift pins disposed through the bottom of the load lock. In another embodiment the lifting mechanism includes two pairs of lift forks disposed through the cover of the load lock. Each pair of forks is capable of independent rotational and vertical movement and each pair is adapted to handle a single wafer.

Description

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention[0002] The present invention relates to a load lock apparatus and method for transferring wafers between a wafer source and a processing chamber. Specifically, the present invention relates to a single or multi-wafer load lock attached directly to a process chamber in a vacuum processing system.[0003] 2. Background of Related Art[0004] The use of cluster tools in semiconductor wafer processing is well known. Examples include the CENTURA.RTM. and ENDURA.RTM. platforms available from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. An example of a typical cluster tool 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Cluster tools generally include mounting a plurality of process chambers 104 to a transfer chamber 102. The transfer chamber 102 houses a centrally located robot 120 which communicates with the process chambers 104 through slit valves (not shown). Current practice includes the use of load locks 108 as intermediary chambers between pod loaders 115-118, a mini-...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): B65G49/07H01L21/00H01L21/677
CPCH01L21/67126H01L21/67742H01L21/67748H01L21/67751Y10S414/139
Inventor KROEKER, TONY
Owner APPLIED MATERIALS INC