Tokyo Electron Limited

Hideyuki Osada

Genichi Nanasaki

Norihiko Amikura

Masatomo Kita

Seiichi Kaise

Eiji Takahashi

Tatsuya Morioka

Akihiro Matsui

Takashi Takizawa

Daisuke Hara

Hikaru Nihei

A substrate processing apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a vacuum transfer chamber including a top surface, a bottom surface, and side surfaces between the top and the bottom surfaces, including a first side surface and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface; a transfer robot, disposed in the vacuum transfer chamber, for transferring a substrate; a load lock module connected to the first side surface; a pipe, connected to a purge gas supply source, for supplying a purge gas into the vacuum transfer chamber; one or more gas ports provided in the top surface in the vicinity of the second side surface and connected to the pipe; and one or more exhaust ports, provided in the bottom surface in the vicinity of the first side surface, to which an exhaust pump for exhausting the purge gas supplied into the vacuum transfer chamber is connected.

Substrate processing apparatus, purge gas control method, and vacuum transfer chamber cleaning method

A substrate processing system is disclosed, comprising: a vacuum transfer module; a substrate processing module connected to the vacuum transfer module and configured to process a substrate in a depressurized environment; a load-lock module connected to the vacuum transfer module; at least one substrate cooling stage disposed in the load-lock module; at least one substrate transfer robot disposed the vacuum transfer module and having at least one end effector; and a controller configured to control a particle removal operation. The operation includes: cooling at least one dummy substrate placed on said at least one substrate cooling stage to a first temperature; and holding said at least one end effector in any one of a plurality of positions in the vacuum transfer module or the substrate processing module for a first time period in a state where at least one cooled dummy substrate is placed on said at least one end effector.

Substrate processing system and particle removal method

Holding pad for transferring a wafer

Growing community of inventors

Miyagi, Japan

Hideyuki Osada