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:
Jun. 06, 1995
Filed:
Jun. 29, 1993
John D Pollock, Rowley, MA (US);
Louise S Barriss, North Reading, MA (US);
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The invention provides apparatus and methods for improving systems which expose samples to reactive plasmas, and more particularly for inverting the sample within these systems. The systems are of the type which have one or more process chambers, at least one intermediate chamber, and a robot transport mechanism to transport the sample between the several chambers. The invention includes flipping and gripping assemblies which mount within the intermediate chamber. These assemblies grasp and remove the sample as transported by the robot mechanism, and invert the sample within the intermediate chamber. The inverted sample is re-positioned at the robot mechanism so that the sample can be transported to one or more process chambers for deposition in a 'face down' orientation, which reduces contamination.