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. 13, 2000
Filed:
Aug. 07, 1997
Sing Pin Tay, Fremont, CA (US);
Yao Zhi Hu, San Jose, CA (US);
Yuval Wasserman, Gaithersburg, MD (US);
Steag RTP Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A process and system for preventing gases from either leaking into or out of a thermal processing chamber that is designed to operate at or near atmospheric pressure is disclosed. For instance, in one embodiment, gases are prevented from leaking into a thermal processing chamber by maintaining the pressure within the chamber at levels that are slightly greater than atmospheric pressure. In an alternative embodiment, in order to prevent gases from leaking out of the chamber, the pressure within the chamber is maintained at levels slightly less than atmospheric pressure. During operation of the thermal processing chamber, a gas is continuously circulated through the chamber. In order to carry out the process of the present invention, a pressure control device can be placed upon the gas outlet for maintaining the pressure within the chamber within a desired range.