Apparatus, method and medium for enhancing the throughput of a wafer processing facility using a multi-slot cool down chamber and a priority transfer scheme
US6580955B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 9, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jun 17, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 9, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/53087
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus, method and medium is provided for increasing the efficiency with which wafers are transferred among different processing chambers in a wafer processing facility. A multi-slot cooling chamber allows multiple wafers to be cooled while other wafers are subjected to processing steps in other chambers. Each wafer in the processing sequence is assigned a priority level depending on its processing stage, and this priority level is used to sequence the movement of wafers between chambers. A look-ahead feature prevents low-priority wafer transfers from occurring if such transfers would occur just prior to the scheduling of a high-priority wafer transfer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.