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. 12, 2011
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2006
Tetsuya Ishikawa, Saratogo, CA (US);
Rick J. Roberts, San Jose, CA (US);
Helen R. Armer, Cupertino, CA (US);
Leon Volfovski, Mountain View, CA (US);
Jay D. Pinson, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael Rice, Pleasanton, CA (US);
David H. Quach, San Jose, CA (US);
Mohsen S. Salek, Saratoga, CA (US);
Robert Lowrance, Los Gatos, CA (US);
William Tyler Weaver, Austin, TX (US);
Charles Carlson, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Chongyang Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Jeffrey Hudgens, San Francisco, CA (US);
Harald Herchen, Los Altos, CA (US);
Brian Lue, Mountain View, CA (US);
John A. Backer, San Jose, CA (US);
Tetsuya Ishikawa, Saratogo, CA (US);
Rick J. Roberts, San Jose, CA (US);
Helen R. Armer, Cupertino, CA (US);
Leon Volfovski, Mountain View, CA (US);
Jay D. Pinson, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael Rice, Pleasanton, CA (US);
David H. Quach, San Jose, CA (US);
Mohsen S. Salek, Saratoga, CA (US);
Robert Lowrance, Los Gatos, CA (US);
William Tyler Weaver, Austin, TX (US);
Charles Carlson, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Chongyang Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Jeffrey Hudgens, San Francisco, CA (US);
Harald Herchen, Los Altos, CA (US);
Brian Lue, Mountain View, CA (US);
John A. Backer, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments generally provide an apparatus and method for processing substrates using a multi-chamber processing system (e.g., a cluster tool) that has an increased system throughput, increased system reliability, substrates processed in the cluster tool have a more repeatable wafer history, and also the cluster tool has a smaller system footprint. In one embodiment of the cluster tool, grouping substrates together, and transferring and processing the substrates in groups of two or more, improves system throughput, and reduces the number of moves a robot has to make to transfer a batch of substrates between the processing chambers, thus reducing wear on the robot and increasing system reliability. Embodiments also provide for a method and apparatus that are used to increase the reliability of the substrate transfer process to reduce system down time.