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US 2006/0051184 A1Published application
Methods and apparatus for mapping carrier contents
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsMartin Elliott, Vinay Shah
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a first aspect, a first method of mapping contents of a substrate carrier is provided. The first method includes the steps of (1) coupling a sensor to the substrate carrier or a loadport adapted to receive the substrate carrier; and (2) determining a presence or absence of a substrate in a slot of the substrate carrier using the sensor. Numerous other aspects are provided.
Claims33
A method of mapping contents of a substrate carrier, comprising:
- coupling a sensor to the substrate carrier or a loadport adapted to receive the substrate carrier;
- and
- determining a presence or absence of a substrate in a slot of the substrate carrier using the sensor.
An apparatus for mapping contents of a substrate carrier, comprising:
- a substrate carrier having a slot adapted to support a substrate;
- and
- a sensor coupled to the substrate carrier or a loadport adapted to receive the substrate carrier;
- wherein the apparatus is adapted to determine a presence or absence of a substrate in the slot of the substrate carrier using the sensor.
1 more element
A substrate carrier, comprising:
- a slot adapted to support a substrate;
- and
- a feature adapted to interact with a sensor such that the sensor may detect a presence or absence of a substrate in the slot of the substrate.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a loadport;
- and
- a sensor coupled to the loadport and adapted to detect a presence or absence of a substrate in a slot of a substrate carrier when the substrate carrier is coupled to the loadport.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.