公开(公告)号：US6082950A

公开(公告)日：2000-07-04

申请号：US752463

申请日：1996-11-18

申请人： Allen Altwood ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Hari K. Ponnekanti ,  Satish Sundar

发明人： Allen Altwood ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Hari K. Ponnekanti ,  Satish Sundar

IPC分类号： H01L21/677 ,  B65H5/08

CPC分类号： H01L21/67778 ,  H01L21/67742 ,  H01L21/67745 ,  Y10S414/137

摘要： A front end staging method and apparatus is provided to introduce and remove a set of wafers from a vacuum processing system. The system generally comprises a support platform, one or more wafer cassette turntables disposed on the platform, a wafer handler disposed adjacent the turntables, a wafer center finding device and a filter disposed to control particles in the vicinity of the wafers. The wafer cassette turntables are rotatably mounted to the support in the preferred embodiment. The processing system may also include one or more processing chambers, where each processing chamber defines a plurality of isolated processing regions therein. The wafer center finding device may include an optical sensor system including optimal emitters aligned with optical sensors.

摘要翻译： 提供了一种前端分级方法和装置，以从真空处理系统引入和移除一组晶片。 该系统通常包括支撑平台，设置在平台上的一个或多个晶片盒转盘，与转台相邻设置的晶片处理器，晶片中心发现装置和设置成控制晶片附近的颗粒的滤光器。 在优选实施例中，晶片盒转盘可旋转地安装到支撑件上。 处理系统还可以包括一个或多个处理室，其中每个处理室在其中限定多个隔离的处理区域。 晶片中心发现装置可以包括光学传感器系统，其包括与光学传感器对准的最佳发射器。

公开(公告)号：US5855681A

公开(公告)日：1999-01-05

申请号：US751485

申请日：1996-11-18

申请人： Dan Maydan ,  Sasson Somekh ,  Ashok Sinha ,  Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Hari K. Ponnekanti ,  W. N.(Nick) Taylor

发明人： Dan Maydan ,  Sasson Somekh ,  Ashok Sinha ,  Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Hari K. Ponnekanti ,  W. N.(Nick) Taylor

IPC分类号： H01L21/00 ,  H01L21/205 ,  H01L21/677 ,  H01L21/687 ,  C23C16/00 ,  C23F1/02

CPC分类号： H01L21/67167 ,  H01L21/6719 ,  H01L21/67196 ,  H01L21/67201 ,  H01L21/67742 ,  H01L21/68707 ,  H01L21/68785

摘要： The present invention generally provides a cassette-to-cassette vacuum processing system which concurrently processes multiple wafers and combines the advantages of single wafer process chambers and multiple wafer handling for high quality wafer processing, high wafer throughput and reduced footprint. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system is preferably a staged vacuum system which generally includes a loadlock chamber for introducing wafers into the system and which also provides wafer cooling following processing, a transfer chamber for housing a wafer handler, and one or more processing chambers each having two or more processing regions which are isolatable from each other and preferably share a common gas supply and a common exhaust pump. The processing regions also preferably include separate gas distribution assemblies and RF power sources to provide a uniform plasma density over a wafer surface in each processing region. The processing chambers are configured to allow multiple, isolated processes to be performed concurrently in at least two processing regions so that at least two wafers can be processed simultaneously in a chamber with a high degree of process control provided by shared gas sources, shared exhaust systems, separate gas distribution assemblies, separate RF power sources, and separate temperature control systems.

摘要翻译： 本发明通常提供一种盒式到盒式真空处理系统，其同时处理多个晶片，并且结合了单晶片处理室和多个晶片处理的优点，用于高质量晶片处理，高晶圆吞吐量和减小的占地面积。 根据本发明的一个方面，该系统优选地是分级真空系统，其通常包括用于将晶片引入系统中并且还提供后续处理的晶片冷却的负载锁定室，用于容纳晶片处理器的传送室，以及一个或 更多的处理室具有可彼此隔离的两个或更多个处理区域，并且优选地共享公共气体供应源和公共排气泵。 处理区域还优选地包括单独的气体分配组件和RF功率源，以在每个处理区域中在晶片表面上提供均匀的等离子体密度。 处理室被配置为允许在至少两个处理区域中同时执行多个隔离过程，使得可以在室内同时处理至少两个晶片，具有由共用气源提供的高程度的过程控制，共用排气系统 ，独立的气体分配组件，独立的射频电源和独立的温度控制系统。

公开(公告)号：US5838121A

公开(公告)日：1998-11-17

申请号：US752471

申请日：1996-11-18

申请人： Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Satish Sundar

发明人： Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne ,  Satish Sundar

IPC分类号： B25J11/00 ,  B65G49/07 ,  H01L21/677 ,  H01L21/687 ,  B25J18/00

CPC分类号： H01L21/68707 ,  H01L21/67742 ,  Y10T464/30 ,  Y10T74/20317

摘要： A multi-blade wafer handling device is provided to concurrently move two or more wafers through a vacuum processing system. The wafer handling device includes two motors magnetically coupled into a transfer chamber to move an arm assembly connected to a dual blade assembly. The preferred wafer handling device includes a first rotating member operated by the first motor, a second rotating member operated by the second motor, a blade assembly having at least first and second wafer blades wherein the wafer blades are co-planar, and an arm assembly connecting the first and second rotating members to the blade assembly.

摘要翻译： 提供多刀片晶片处理装置，以通过真空处理系统同时移动两个或更多个晶片。 晶片处理装置包括磁耦合到传送室中以移动连接到双刀片组件的臂组件的两个电动机。 优选的晶片处理装置包括由第一电动机操作的第一旋转构件，由第二电动机操作的第二旋转构件，具有至少第一和第二晶片叶片的叶片组件，其中晶片叶片是共面的，以及臂组件 将第一和第二旋转构件连接到叶片组件。

公开(公告)号：US5902088A

公开(公告)日：1999-05-11

申请号：US749612

申请日：1996-11-18

申请人： Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne

发明人： Kevin Fairbairn ,  Christopher Lane ,  Kelly Colborne

IPC分类号： B65G49/07 ,  H01L21/00 ,  H01L21/677

CPC分类号： H01L21/67742 ,  H01L21/67201 ,  H01L21/67754 ,  Y10S414/137 ,  Y10S414/139

摘要： A vacuum loadlock is provided for housing a pair of wafers in proper alignment for concurrent processing. In one embodiment, a single chamber loadlock is provided with a gas diffuser disposed therein to decrease venting times within the loadlock. In another embodiment, a dual chamber loadlock is provided having first and second isolatable region disposed adjacent a transfer region to increase throughput of the system.

摘要翻译： 提供了真空负载锁，用于容纳一对正确对准的一对晶片以进行并行处理。 在一个实施例中，单室负载锁具有设置在其中的气体扩散器，以减少负载锁中的通气时间。 在另一个实施例中，提供双室负载锁，其具有邻近传送区域设置的第一和第二隔离区域，以增加系统的吞吐量。