The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 2026
Filed:
May. 04, 2023
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Aditya Chuttar, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Muhannad Mustafa, Milpitas, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Apparatuses and methods for loading and unloading substrates from a semiconductor manufacturing processing chamber are described. Some embodiments advantageously provide improved lift assemblies (e.g., lift ring designs) for centering lift pins in semiconductor processing chambers by allowing for unconstrained translation of the lift pins in the x-y plane. Some embodiments advantageously prevent lift pin tilting. Some embodiments advantageously provide a seal between the top end portion of the lift pins and the openings in the top surface. The lift assemblies include a ring-shaped body, a plurality of movable blocks configured to cooperatively interact with one or more openings of the ring-shaped body, and at least one ball bearing. The movable blocks include at least one indentation in a top surface of a bottom portion of the block and a complementary sized ball bearing in the at least one indentation.