Applied Materials, Inc.

Narayanan Ramachandran

Devendra Channappa Holeyannavar

Paul Benjamin Reuter

Sushant Suresh Koshti

Douglas Brian Baumgarten

Arunkumar Ramachandraiah

Srinivas Poshatrahalli Gopalakrishna

Michael Robert Rice

Jeffrey C Hudgens

Dean C Hruzek

Jacob Newman

Andrew J Constant

Rajkumar Thanu

Shay Assaf

Karthik Balakrishnan

David Phillips

The disclosure describes devices, systems, and methods for integrating load locks into a factory interface footprint space. A factory interface for an electronic device manufacturing system can include a load port for receiving a substrate carrier. The load port can include a frame adapted for connecting the load port to a factory interface, the frame comprising a transport opening through which one or more substrates are capable of being transported between the substrate carrier and the factory interface. The load port can also include an actuator coupled to the frame, and a load port door coupled to the actuator and configured to seal the transport opening. The frame height can be greater than the height of the load port door, and less than 2.5 times the height of the load port door.

Shortened load port for factory interface

A factory interface for an electronic device manufacturing system can include a load lock disposed within the interior volume of a factory interface and a factory interface robot disposed within the interior volume of the factory interface. The factory interface robot can be configured to transfer substrates between a first set of substrate carriers and the first load lock. The factory interface robot can comprise a vertical tower, a plurality of links, and an end effector.

Factory interface robots usable with integrated load locks

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

Embodiments described herein generally relate to an apparatus and method of performing a robot calibration process within a substrate processing system. In one embodiment, a calibration device is used to calibrate a robot having an end effector. The calibration device includes a body, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The calibration device further includes a sensor disposed on the second side of the body. In some embodiments, the sensor covers the entire second side of the body. In this configuration, because the sensor covers the entire second side of the body of the calibration device, the calibration device can be utilized to sense the contact between the sensor and various differently configured chamber components found in different types of processing chambers or stations disposed within a processing system during a calibration process performed in each of the different processing chambers or stations.

Sensor based auto-calibration wafer

Growing community of inventors

Bengaluru, India

Narayanan Ramachandran