Intevac, Inc.

Shah, Vinay

Bluck, Terry

Riposan, Alex

Alex Riposan

Terry Bluck

Vinay K Shah

Ian Scot Latchford

A narrow sputtering source and target which are designed to be installed in a series on a sputtering chamber. Each of the narrow sputtering source has length sufficient to traverse one direction of the sputtering zone, but is much narrower than the orthogonal direction of the sputtering zone. When the sputtering chamber performs a pass-by sputtering process, each of the narrow sputtering sources is sufficiently long to traverse the sputtering zone in the direction orthogonal to the substrate travel direction, but is much narrower than the sputtering zone in the direction of substrate travel. Several narrow sputtering sources are installed so as to traverse the entire sputtering zone in all directions.

Narrow source for physical vapor deposition processing

An arrangement for supporting substrates during processing, having a wafer carrier with a susceptor for supporting the substrate and confining the substrate to predetermined position. An inner mask is configured for placing on top of the substrate, the inner mask having an opening pattern to mask unprocessed parts of the substrate, but expose remaining parts of the substrate for processing. An outer mask is configured for placing on top of the inner mask, the outer mask having an opening that exposes the part of the inner mask having the opening pattern, but cover the periphery of the inner mask.

Dual-mask arrangement for solar cell fabrication

A system for processing substrates in plasma chambers, such that all substrates transport and loading/unloading operations are performed in atmospheric environment, but processing is performed in vacuum environment. The substrates are transported throughout the system on carriers. The system's chambers are arranged linearly, such that carriers move from one chamber directly to the next. A conveyor, placed above or below the system's chambers, returns the carriers to the system's entry area after processing is completed. Loading and unloading of substrates may be performed at one side of the system, or loading can be done at the entry side and unloading at the exit side.

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Alex Riposan