Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Applied Material, Inc.

Eric Andrew Englhardt

Jeffrey C Hudgens

Michael Robert Rice

Robert B Lowrance

Martin R Elliott

Vinay K Shah

Kirk Van Katwyk

Dean C Hruzek

Michael C Kuchar

Charles T Carlson

William Tyler Weaver

Sushant Suresh Koshti

Amitabh Puri

Van Hoskins

Steve S Hongkham

Mike Rice

Dave Silvetti

Helen R Armer

Alex Berger

Penchala N Kankanala

Mei Yin Chang

Chongyang Wang

John Joseph Mazzocco

Alan F Morrison

Michael Meyers

Mario David Silvetti

Marvin De-Dui Liao

Michael Teferra

David C Duffin

Yeh-Jen Kao

Amit Puri

John M White

Dmitry Lubomirsky

Andrew Nguyen

Soo Young Choi

Ganesh Balasubramanian

Michal Danek

Gregory J Wilson

Ashok K Sinha

Tae Kyung Won

Tom K Cho

Paul Benjamin Reuter

Jay D Pinson, Ii

Nir Merry

Lawrence C Lei

Xinglong Chen

David Tanner

Robert Z Bachrach

Jared Ahmad Lee

Steven Victor Sansoni

Cissy S Leung

Shuran Sheng

Dale R Dubois

Danny Cam Toan Lu

Fernando Silveira

Mohsen Salek

Jeffrey S Sullivan

Travis Morey

Nolan Layne Zimmerman

Yacov Elgar

Asaf Schlezinger

Martin Jeff Salinas

Ayan Majumdar

Stephen P Murphy

Igor G Kogan

Victor Belitsky

Edward Ng

James Craig Hunter

Charles Gay

Richard Giljum

Liwei Li

Robert Irwin Decottignies

Fang Mei

Nicholas G J De Vries

Balamurugan Ramasamy

Parris Hawkins

Yong-Kee Chae

Dale DuBois

Tzay-Fa (Jeff) Su

Michel Ranjit Frei

Teresa Trowbridge

Michael Danek

JuanCarlos Rocha-Alvarez

Brice Walker

Martin R Elliot

George Mattinger

Loy Randall Stuart

Steve Szudarski

Andrew Scott Cornelius

Peter Irwin

Choi (Gene) Ho

Wing Hoo (Hendrick) Lo

Srujal (Steve) Patel

Matthew J B Saunders

Disclosed herein are systems and methods relating to a transfer chamber for an electronic device processing system. The transfer chamber can include a first magnetic levitation track having a face-up orientation and a second magnetic levitation track spaced from the first magnetic levitation track and having a face-down orientation. The system can include substrate carriers that move along the first and second magnetic levitation tracks where each substrate carrier includes a magnet on a bottom portion to interact with a first magnetic field and a second magnet on a top portion to interact with a second magnetic field. The system also can include at least one lift pin assembly to move the substrate carriers in a vertical direction between the first and second magnetic levitation tracks.

Substrate transfer systems and methods of use thereof

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

A seal ring for an electrochemical processor does not slip or deflect laterally when pressed against a wafer surface. The seal ring may be on a rotor of the processor, with the seal ring having an outer wall joined to a tip arc through an end. The outer wall may be a straight wall. A relatively rigid support ring may be attached to the seal ring, to provide a more precise sealing dimension. Knife edge seal rings that slip or deflect laterally on the wafer surface may also be used. In these designs, the slipping is substantially uniform and consistent, resulting in improved performance.

Seal rings in electrochemical processors

Methods and apparatus for particle reduction in throttle gate valves used in substrate process chambers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a gate valve for use in a process chamber includes a body having an opening disposed therethrough from a first surface to an opposing second surface of the body; a pocket extending into the body from a sidewall of the opening; a gate movably disposed within the pocket between a closed position that seals the opening and an open position that reveals the opening and disposes the gate completely within the pocket; and a plurality of gas ports disposed in the gate valve configured to direct a gas flow into a portion of the gate valve fluidly coupled to the opening.

Particle reduction via throttle gate valve purge

A via pass-through apparatus is disclosed. The via pass-through apparatus includes a pass-through chamber adapted to couple between a first mainframe section and a second mainframe section of a substrate processing system, the pass-through chamber including an entry and an exit each having a slit valve, and a via process chamber located at a different level than the pass-through chamber wherein the via process chamber is adapted to carry out a process on a substrate at the via location. Systems and methods of operating the system are provided, as are numerous other aspects.

Processing systems and apparatus adapted to process substrates in electronic device manufacturing

Transfer chamber gas purge apparatus are disclosed. The transfer chamber gas purge apparatus has a transfer chamber adapted to contain at least a portion of a transfer robot, the transfer chamber including side walls, a chamber lid, and a chamber floor, wherein the chamber lid has a plurality of distributed chamber inlets. The plurality of distributed chamber inlets may include diffusing elements. Laminar purge gas flow may be provided above the substrate. Systems and methods including a plurality of distributed chamber inlets are disclosed, as are numerous other aspects.

Transfer chamber gas purge apparatus, electronic device processing systems, and purge methods

Substrate transport systems, apparatus, and methods are described. In one aspect, the systems are disclosed having vertically stacked transfer chamber bodies. In one embodiment, a common robot apparatus services process chambers or load lock chambers coupled to upper and lower transfer chamber bodies. In another embodiment, separate robot apparatus service the process chambers and/or load lock chambers coupled to upper and lower transfer chamber bodies, and an elevator apparatus transfers the substrates between the various elevations. Degassing apparatus are described, as are numerous other aspects.

Degassing apparatus adapted to process substrates in multiple tiers with second actuator

In some embodiments, a linked processing tool system is provided that includes (1) a first processing tool having at least a first transfer chamber configured to couple to a plurality of processing chambers; (2) a second processing tool having at least a second transfer chamber configured to couple to a plurality of processing chambers; (3) a third transfer chamber coupled between the first and second processing tools and configured to transfer substrates between the first and second processing tools; and (4) a single sequencer that controls substrate transfer operations between the first processing tool, the second processing tool and the third transfer chamber of the linked processing tool system. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Linked vacuum processing tools and methods of using the same

A method and apparatus for processing substrates using a multi-chamber processing system, or cluster tool, is provided. In one embodiment of the invention, a robot assembly is provided. The robot assembly includes a first motion assembly movable in a first direction, and a second motion assembly, the second motion assembly being coupled to the first motion assembly and being movable relative to the first motion assembly in a second direction that is generally orthogonal to the first direction. The robot assembly further comprises an enclosure disposed in one of the first motion assembly or the second motion assembly, the enclosure containing at least a portion of a vertical actuator assembly, a support plate coupled to the enclosure, and a first transfer robot disposed on the support plate.

Substrate processing sequence in a cartesian robot cluster tool

In a first aspect, a substrate carrier is provided that includes an enclosure adapted to be sealable and to house at least one substrate. The substrate carrier includes a first port leading into the enclosure and adapted to allow a flow of gas into the enclosure while the substrate carrier is closed. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Methods and loadport for purging a substrate carrier

In a first aspect, a loadport is provided. The loadport has a plate adapted to couple to a door of a substrate carrier to open the substrate carrier wherein the plate includes a first opening adapted to couple to a first port in the door of the substrate carrier on a first side of the plate and to couple to a gas source on a second side of the plate, and wherein the loadport is adapted to allow a flow of gas into the substrate carrier via the first opening in the plate. Methods of purging substrate carriers are provided, as are numerous other aspects.

Methods and loadport apparatus for purging a substrate carrier

Methods and systems are provided for mapping substrates in a substrate carrier. The invention includes a substrate carrier including one or more windows; and an imaging system coupled to a substrate carrier handling robot and adapted to determine or image substrate positions in the substrate carrier via the one or more windows. Numerous other aspects are provided.

System, methods and apparatus for substrate carrier content verification using a material handling system

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Eric Andrew Englhardt