Flat Substrate Carrier for Breakage-Free Vacuum Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current substrate handling systems in solar cell manufacturing and microelectronics face challenges such as substrate breakage, uneven load distribution, and cross-contamination during treatment processes, particularly due to the need for frequent transfer between treatment apparatuses and the use of substrate holding devices that introduce parasitic layers and contaminants.
Innovation Solution
A substrate carrier with a monolithic, flat holding area and minimal gripping arms that allows substrates to be securely held and moved within a treatment apparatus without external forces, reducing the risk of breakage and cross-contamination, and enabling continuous vacuum processing without interrupting the treatment process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If substrates are frequently transferred between treatment apparatuses, then treatment processes can be completed, but substrate breakage and cross-contamination increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple treatment functions into a single integrated treatment apparatus with multiple receiving plates. Substrates remain on the carrier throughout multiple treatments without being transferred out, eliminating the harmful transfer operations while completing multiple treatment processes. The carrier with holding areas is inserted into different receiving plates sequentially within the same vacuum chamber, achieving process integration that prevents substrate breakage and cross-contamination.
2Ease of operation
If substrates are placed on external holding devices, then substrates can be secured during handling, but parasitic layers and contaminants are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the holding function from external substrate holding devices and integrates it directly into the carrier structure. The carrier includes holding areas formed as integral parts of its structure, eliminating the need for separate holding devices that introduce contaminants. substrates are held securely by the carrier's own holding areas during all operations within the treatment apparatus, preventing cross-contamination while maintaining ease of handling.
3Adaptability or versatility
If substrates are removed from carriers between treatments, then different treatment conditions can be applied, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous processing by keeping substrates on the carrier throughout multiple treatment operations. The carrier with substrates remains in the vacuum chamber and is sequentially inserted into different receiving plates for different treatment processes. This eliminates the time-consuming removal and reloading operations between treatments, maintaining continuous useful action while still allowing different treatment conditions to be applied in different receiving plates.
4Ease of operation
If Bernoulli grippers are used for substrate handling, then non-contact holding is achieved, but overall height increases and substrate load becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the holding function from complex external gripper systems and implements it directly in the carrier structure through integrated holding areas. substrates are held by the carrier's holding areas without requiring external Bernoulli grippers or other complex holding devices. This simplifies the overall system height and eliminates the uneven load distribution problems associated with external grippers, while still achieving secure non-contact or minimal-contact holding.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus for transporting a substrate into or out of a treatment apparatus, to a treatment apparatus, to a method of processing a substrate and to a treatment system having a movement arrangement for moving such an apparatus for transporting a substrate. In this case, the apparatus for transporting a substrate has a substrate carrier that includes a horizontally extending holding area and one or a plurality of gripping arms. The holding area is even and uniform on a first surface facing the substrate, the shape of said holding area substantially corresponding to the shape of the substrate and the area size of said holding area being substantially the same as the area size of the substrate, the substrate being held with its rear side on the holding area merely by its weight. The treatment apparatus has a receiving plate on which the substrate is held during the treatment, the receiving plate having a recess that is suitable for receiving such a substrate carrier during the treatment of the substrate in a first surface.