Magnetically coupled linear delivery system transferring wafers between a cassette and a processing reactor
US6971832B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 4, 2004 |
| Grant date | Dec 6, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 4, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S414/139
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A wafer load lock and linear delivery system including within a load lock vacuum chamber a paddle cantilevered from a trolley traveling on a single rail extending on a lateral side of the wafer end of the paddle while it is retracted into the load lock chamber. The trolley is magnetically coupled to an external mechanical drive through a vacuum wall of the vacuum chamber which drives the wafer on the paddle into an attached processing chamber. A single wafer may be loaded onto the paddle through a door in the vacuum wall. Alternatively, a cassette of wafers may be loaded into a cassette station opposite the processing chamber. One end of the paddle removes a wafer from the cassette, and a hand off station moves the wafer to a second end of the paddle, which then moves it into the processing chamber.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.