Batchloader for load lock
US5664925A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 27, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 9, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 27, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S414/139
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system is provided for batch loading semiconductor wafers into a load lock from a portable carrier, for example, used for supporting and transporting a plurality of the wafers in spaced, stacked, relationship. The carrier is supported adjacent a chamber within the load lock. A multilevel end effector associated with the load lock chamber includes a plurality of spaced end effector sets, each set being adapted to support a wafer thereon and aligned with an associated wafer supported in the carrier. The plurality of wafers are engaged and simultaneously retrieved as a grouping, then held in the load lock chamber for subsequent transport, for example, one at a time, into an adjacent transport chamber for delivery to a specified one of a plurality of processing stations. A mini-environment may sealingly isolate the load lock chamber and the interior of the carrier from the surrounding atmosphere. Mechanisms are provided for moving the end effector sets, both elevationally and into and out of the load lock chamber, and for moving a load lock door between a closed, sealed, position and an open position and to a parked position remote from the region adjacent the load lock chamber.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.