System and method for depositing plural thin film layers on a substrate

Abstract

A sealed substrate processing path has plural selectably isolatable vacuum deposition chambers along the path. A transporter carries substrates along the path and an independently controllable sputter deposition is performed in each deposition chamber on substrates therein. Substrates are loaded from a load chamber to a first deposition chamber while a vacuum is maintained in the first and load chambers. Substrates are transferred from a last deposition chamber to an unload chamber while a vacuum is maintained in the last and load chambers. Substrates are placed in the load chamber while the load and first chambers are isolated and are removed from the unload chamber while the last and unload chambers are isolated. In one embodiment, substrates travel succesively from the load chamber to first through fourth deposition chambers and then to the unload chamber. In another embodiment, substrates travel from the load chamber to first to second to first and to third deposition chambers and then to the unload chamber. First and second alternating load chambers are provided in another embodiment with substrates being loaded into the second load chamber while substrates are transferred from the first load chamber to the first deposition chamber and vice versa. The respective first and second load chambers are coupled through an interface chamber to the first deposition chamber and are each isolatable from the interface chamber during loading.