Valve/sensor assemblies

A door assembly having:

• a first position adapted to seal an opening of a chamber;
• a second position adapted to allow at least a blade of a substrate handler to extend through the opening of the chamber;
• a mounting mechanism adapted to couple the door assembly to the chamber;
• and
• at least one of a light transmitter and a light receiver coupled to the mounting mechanism so as to allow detection of a presence of a substrate.

A method comprising:

• providing a chamber having a valve/sensor assembly comprising:
• a door assembly having:
• a first position adapted to seal an opening of the chamber;
• a second position adapted to allow at least a blade of a substrate handler to extend through the opening of the chamber;
• and
• a mounting mechanism coupled to the chamber;
• and
• a sensor system having a transmitter and a receiver adapted to detect a presence of a substrate and to communicate through at least a portion of the door assembly;
• transporting a substrate through the opening of the chamber with a substrate handler;
• and
• detecting whether the substrate is on the substrate handler with the sensor system.

A method comprising:

• providing a chamber having a valve/sensor assembly comprising:
• a door assembly having:
• a first position adapted to seal an opening of the chamber;
• a second position adapted to allow at least a blade of a substrate handler to extend through the opening of the chamber;
• and
• a mounting mechanism coupled to the chamber;
• and
• a sensor system having a transmitter and a receiver adapted to detect a presence of a substrate and to communicate through at least a portion of the door assembly;
• transporting a substrate through the opening of the chamber with a substrate handler;
• determining whether the substrate is centered on a blade of the substrate handler;
• and
• adjusting placement of the substrate on a substrate pedestal if the substrate is not centered on the blade of the substrate handler.

A method comprising:

• providing a chamber having a valve/sensor assembly comprising:
• a door assembly having:
• a first position adapted to seal an opening of the chamber;
• a second position adapted to allow at least a blade of a substrate handler to extend through the opening of the chamber;
• and
• a mounting mechanism coupled to the chamber, the mounting mechanism having a viewport;
• and
• a sensor system having a transmitter and a receiver adapted to detect a presence of a substrate and to communicate through the viewport of the mounting mechanism;
• transporting a substrate through the opening of the chamber with a substrate handler;
• and
• detecting whether the substrate is on the substrate handler with the sensor system.