Methods for purging a substrate carrier at a factory interface

US10903102B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Applied Materials, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Subramaniam V. Iyer · Jamkhed, IN
• Dharma Ratnam Srichurnam · Hyderabad, IN
• Devendrappa Holeyannavar · Bengaluru, IN
• Douglas MacLeod · Los Altos, US
• Kenneth Carpenter · San Diego, US
• Naveen Kumar · Bengaluru, IN
• Vivek R. Rao · Bengaluru, IN
• Patrick D. Pannese · Lynnfield, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 29, 2019
• Grant date: Jan 26, 2021
• Expiry date: Oct 29, 2039

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L21/67772
• WIPO field: Semiconductors
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A method of purging a substrate carrier at a load port includes: opening a door of a substrate carrier that is delivered to a load port; spraying the substrate carrier with a gas flow responsive to the opening the door; mapping substrates within the substrate carrier to generate a substrate map; determining a process purge state based on the substrate map; and activating one or more inter-substrate nozzle arrays and one or more curtain nozzle arrays using a predefined spray status configuration for the process purge state.