Evatec Ag

Oerlikon Advanced Technologies Ag

Wolfgang Rietzler

Rogier Lodder

Rolf Bazlen

Bart Scholte Von Mast

Daniel Rohrer

Bart Scholte Van Mast

To reduce pumping time of a vacuum treatment chamber served by a transport arrangement in a transport chamber. The vacuum treatment chamber is split in a workpiece treatment compartment and in a pumping compartment in mutual free flow communication and arranged opposite each other with respect to a movement path of the transport arrangement serving the vacuum treatment chamber. The pumping compartment allows providing a pumping port of a flow cross-section area freely selectable independently from the geometry of the treatment compartment.

Vacuum treatment apparatus

A method of processing a substrate that displays out-gassing when placed in a vacuum comprises placing the substrate in a vacuum and performing an out-gassing treatment by heating the substrate to a temperature Tand removing gaseous contamination emitted from the substrate until the out-gassing rate is determined by the diffusion of the substrate's contamination and thus essentially a steady state has been established. Afterwards, the temperature is lowered to a temperature Tat which the diffusion rate of the substrate's contamination is lower than at T. The substrate is further processed at said temperature Tuntil the substrate has been covered with a film comprising a metal.

Apparatus and method for processing a substrate

To reduce pumping time of a vacuum treatment chamber served by a transport arrangement in a transport chamber the vacuum treatment chamber is split into a workpiece treatment compartment and a pumping compartment in mutual free flow communication and arranged opposite each other with respect to a movement path of the transport arrangement serving the vacuum treatment chamber. The pumping compartment allows a pumping port to have a flow cross-section area that is freely selectable independently from the geometry of the treatment compartment.

A vacuum treatment apparatus and method for manufacturing has a plurality of treatment chambers for treating workpieces, in particular silicon wafers, a transfer chamber attached to the treatment chambers communicating via respective openings and having handling zones located adjacent to each of the treatment chambers. A workpiece carrier is arranged within the transfer chamber and configured to transfer the workpieces between the handling zones, and one or more handlers for moving the workpieces between the handling zones and the treatment chambers. The transfer chamber is ring-shaped about an axis and the openings have opening substantially parallel thereto. This way, forces on the transfer chamber are redirected to a large support structure and thus, a cost-effective, light and still rigid mechanical construction can be achieved.

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Bludenz, Austria

Wolfgang Rietzler