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:
Apr. 14, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 23, 1994
George L Coad, Lafayette, CA (US);
Eric C Lawson, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
John Lester Hughes, Rodeo, CA (US);
Intevac, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A vacuum processing system for handling and processing rectangular glass panels for flat panel displays has a cluster configuration. The system includes a central buffer chamber, with multiple processing chambers, a load lock and an unload lock positioned around the buffer chamber and coupled to the buffer chamber through gate valves. The buffer chamber contains a turntable that is rotatable about a vertical axis. The system further includes substrate carriers, each for supporting a substrate in a vertical orientation as it is transported through the system and is processed. The turntable has dual substrate carrier positions for rotating substrate carriers into alignment with a selected processing chamber, the load lock or the unload lock. Multiple substrates can be handled and processed concurrently to achieve a high throughput rate. The system is typically used for sputter deposition of ITO films and metal films on the glass substrate.