Applied Materials, Inc.

Dean C Hruzek

Michael Robert Rice

Jeffrey C Hudgens

Paul Benjamin Reuter

Nir Merry

Eric Andrew Englhardt

Michael C Kuchar

Douglas Brian Baumgarten

Devendra Channappa Holeyannavar

Robert B Lowrance

Charles T Carlson

William Tyler Weaver

Vinay K Shah

Kirk Van Katwyk

John C Menk

Van Hoskins

Sushant Suresh Koshti

Jeffrey Allen Brodine

Mike Rice

Dave Silvetti

Sandesh Doddamane Ramappa

Helder T Lee

Ayan Majumdar

Sanjay Rajaram

Sangram Patil

Izya Kremerman

John Joseph Mazzocco

Travis Morey

Michael Meyers

Mario David Silvetti

Penchala N Kankanala

Eran Weiss

Steven Victor Sansoni

Satish Sundar

Murali K Narasimhan

Amitabh Puri

Mario Dave Silvetti

Adam J Wyatt

William P Laceky

William Nixon Taylor, Jr

Patrick Pannese

Shivaraj Manjunath Nara

Robert Irwin Decottignies

Robert M McAndrew

Narayanan Ramachandran

Arunkumar Ramachandraiah

Srinivas Poshatrahalli Gopalakrishna

Amulya Ligorio Athayde

Steve Szudarski

Andrew Scott Cornelius

Peter Irwin

Lakshmikantha K Shirahatti

Prudhvi R Chintalapati

Babu Chinnasamy

Joseph Vincent

Vijayabaskar Soundarrajan

Pandu Maddherla

A platform is of a side storage pod. The platform includes an upper surface and kinematic pins extending from the upper surface within a chamber of the side storage pod to engage a lower surface of a side storage container in the chamber to level the side storage container in the chamber.

Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for processing substrates

Electronic device processing systems including an equipment front end module (EFEM) with at least one side storage pod are described. The side storage pod has a chamber including a storage container. The storage container includes at least a top substrate holder and a bottom substrate holder. In some embodiments, an exhaust port is located at a midpoint between the top substrate holder and the bottom substrate holder. A gas flow component is configured to provide a gas flow between the EFEM body and the storage container. A gas flow temperature component is configured to modify the temperature of the gas flow to a particular temperature.

Side storage pods, electronic device processing systems, and methods for operating the same

A system comprises a factory interface (FI) comprising an FI chamber and a carrier purge chamber, the FI configured to receive a substrate carrier that becomes coupled to the FI such that the carrier purge chamber is positioned between the FI chamber and the substrate carrier, the substrate carrier comprising a carrier door. The system further comprises an environmental control system coupled to at least one of the FI chamber or the carrier purge chamber and configured to couple to the substrate carrier, the environmental control system operable to separately control environmental conditions within at least one of: the carrier purge chamber and the substrate carrier; the carrier purge chamber and the FI chamber; or the FI chamber and the substrate carrier, while the carrier door of the substrate carrier is closed.

Substrate processing systems, apparatus, and methods with substrate carrier and purge chamber environmental controls

Disclosed is a wafer processing system, a load lock system, a chamber system, and methods of neutralizing static charges and dislodging particles from a wafer. The chamber system (e.g., load lock system) may comprise a chamber (e.g., load lock chamber), at least one ionizer to ionize inert gas supplied to the chamber (e.g., load lock chamber), at least one bottom nozzle to flow ionized inert gas to a bottom surface of a wafer, at least one top nozzle to flow ionized inert gas to a top surface of a wafer, and at least one exhaust vent to remove the ionized inert gas and any neutralized particles dislodged from the wafer. The chamber may include a single wafer or multiple wafers. The chamber system may further comprise at least one nozzle to flow an inert gas curtain proximate to an exit and/or entry into the chamber.

Ionized gas vent to reduce on wafer static charge and particles

Electronic device processing systems including an equipment front end module (EFEM) with a side storage pod are described. The EFEM includes an EFEM chamber and a recirculation duct. The side storage pod is fluidly coupled to the recirculation duct. The side storage pod includes an interior chamber and a side storage container disposed within the interior chamber. The side storage container is configured to receive one or more substrates from the EFEM chamber. The electronic device processing system further includes an environmental control system. The environmental control system is configured to circulate a purge gas between the EFEM chamber and the side storage pod via the recirculation duct.

Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for operating EFEMs

An equipment front end module (EFEM) includes sidewalls forming an EFEM chamber configured to receive inert gas from an inert gas supply. The sidewalls include a first sidewall configured to attach to a panel first side of a panel. The panel forms a panel opening extending between the panel first side and a panel second side. The panel second side is configured to attach to a side storage pod. The EFEM further includes a robot disposed in the EFEM chamber. The robot is configured to transfer substrates from the EFEM chamber into the side storage pod via the panel opening. An exhaust conduit is coupled to the side storage pod to exhaust gas from the side storage pod to an exterior of the side storage pod.

Multi-blade robot apparatus, electronic device manufacturing apparatus, and methods adapted to transport multiple substrates in electronic device manufacturing

Electronic device processing assemblies including an equipment front end module (EFEM) with at least one side storage pod attached thereto are described. The side storage pod has a side storage container. In some embodiments, an exhaust conduit extends between the chamber and a pod plenum that can contain a chemical filter proximate thereto. A supplemental fan may draw purge gas from the pod plenum through the chemical filter and route the gas through a return duct to an upper plenum of the EFEM. Methods and side storage pods in accordance with these and other embodiments are also disclosed.

Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for operating the same

Electronic device processing systems including an equipment front end module with at least one side storage pod are described. The side storage pod has a chamber including a top substrate holder and a bottom substrate holder. In some embodiments, an exhaust port is located at a midpoint between the top substrate holder and the bottom substrate holder. Methods and systems in accordance with these and other embodiments are also disclosed.

Electronic device processing systems including environmental control of the factory interface are described. One electronic device processing system has a factory interface having a factory interface chamber, a load lock apparatus coupled to the factory interface, one or more substrate carriers coupled to the factory interface, and an environmental control system coupled to the factory interface and operational to monitor or control one of: relative humidity, temperature, an amount of oxygen, or an amount of inert gas within the factory interface chamber. In another aspect, purge of a carrier purge chamber within the factory interface chamber is provided. Methods for processing substrates are described, as are numerous other aspects.

Substrate processing systems, apparatus, and methods with factory interface environmental controls

A detector disc includes a disc body having a bottom disc and a top cover, the top cover including a first aperture. A sensor is disposed inside the disc body and positioned to be exposed to an external environment via the first aperture in the top cover. The solid state sensor is adapted to detect levels of chemical gas contaminants and output a detection signal based on detected levels of the chemical gas contaminants. A microcontroller is disposed on the PCB and adapted to generate measurement data from the detected levels of the chemical gas contaminants embodied within the detection signal. A wireless communication circuit is disposed on the PCB, the wireless communication circuit adapted to transmit the measurement data wirelessly to a wireless access point device.

Portable disc to measure chemical gas contaminants within semiconductor equipment and clean room

A factory interface for an electronic device processing system includes a factory interface chamber, an inert gas supply conduit, an exhaust conduit and an inert gas recirculation system. The inert gas supply conduit supplies an inert gas into the factory interface chamber. The exhaust conduit exhausts the inert gas from the factory interface chamber. The inert gas recirculation system recirculates the inert gas exhausted from the factory interface chamber back into the factory interface chamber.

In some embodiments, a side storage pod apparatus of an equipment front end module (EFEM) includes a side storage enclosure having a surface configured to couple to a side wall of a body of the equipment front end module, and an opening configured to receive substrates from the equipment front end module. The EFEM further includes a side storage chamber within the side storage enclosure having a plurality of support members configured to support substrates thereon. The EFEM further includes a plenum chamber provided proximate the side storage chamber, the plenum chamber being a separate chamber from the side storage chamber and an exhaust port coupled to the plenum chamber.

High flow velocity, gas-purged, side storage pod apparatus, assemblies, and methods

Electronic device processing systems including an equipment front end module with at least one side storage pod are described. The side storage pod has a side storage container and a container plenum. A fan draws purge gas from the equipment front end module chamber into the container plenum where the purge gas is directed into the side storage container to pass over substrates stored therein and is then exhausted back into the equipment front end module chamber. Methods and systems are also disclosed.

A transfer chamber configured to be used during semiconductor device manufacturing is described. Transfer chamber includes at least one first side of a first width configured to couple to one or more substrate transfer units (e.g., one or more load locks or one or more pass-through units), and at least a second set of sides of a second width that is different than the first width, the second set of sides configured to couple to one or more processing chambers. A total number of sides of the transfer chamber is at least seven. Transfers within the transfer chamber are serviceable by a single robot. Process tools and methods for processing substrates are described, as are numerous other aspects.

Transfer chambers with an increased number of sides, semiconductor device manufacturing processing tools, and processing methods

Electronic device manufacturing systems may include an equipment front end module (EFEM) having a load port assembly configured to receiving a substrate carrier, which may be a front opening unified pod (FOUP). The load port assembly may have a receiving plate upon which the substrate carrier may be received. The receiving plate may have a plurality of gas nozzles that can be coupled to purge ports in a bottom of the substrate carrier and to a purge apparatus of the load port assembly. The purge apparatus is configured to provide a gas to the substrate carrier at a selectable gas flow rate and, in some embodiments, to provide a gas to different portions of the substrate carrier each at a selectable gas flow rate. Methods of providing selectable gas flow rates for purging a substrate carrier coupled to a load port assembly are also provided, as are other aspects.

Selectable-rate bottom purge apparatus and methods

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Cedar Park, TX, United States of America

Dean C Hruzek