Novellus Systems Incorporated

Victor F Morris

Ronald Allan Powell

Edmund Minshall

Mukul Khosla

Ram Charan

A gas expansion module for use with semiconductor wafer loadlocks and other regulated-pressure components of semiconductor processing tools is provided. The gas expansion module may be barometrically isolated from the loadlock or other component and pumped down to a vacuum condition while the loadlock is performing operations at a higher pressure, such as ambient atmospheric conditions. After an initial pump-down of the loadlock is performed, the gas expansion module may be fluidly joined to the loadlock volume and the gases within each allowed to reach equilibrium. A further pump-down of the combined volume may be used to bring the loadlock pressure to a desired vacuum condition.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Victor F Morris