Wafer Transfer System
AssigneeSanDisk Techologies Inc.
InventorAtsuyoshi Koike
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wafer transport system includes a pod that contains one or more wafers in an enclosed environment, a substrate transport surface that extends substantially along a plane, intersecting at least first and second loading/unloading locations, and a pod controller that is configured to control movement of the pod by selecting a pathway from a plurality of available pathways extending along the substrate transport surface from the first loading/unloading location to the second loading/unloading location.
Claims22
A semiconductor substrate transport system comprising:
- a substrate transport pod that contains one or more substrates in an enclosed environment;
- a substrate transport surface that extends substantially along a plane, the plane intersecting at least a first loading/unloading location and a second loading/unloading location;
- and
- a substrate transport pod controller that is configured to control movement of the substrate transport pod along the substrate transport surface from the first loading/unloading location to the second loading/unloading location by selecting a pathway from a plurality of available pathways extending along the substrate transport surface from the first loading/unloading location to the second loading/unloading location.
A semiconductor substrate transport system comprising:
- a substrate transport conduit that extends along a horizontal plane between a first load/unload location for a first semiconductor processing tool and a second load/unload location for a second semiconductor processing tool, the substrate transport conduit having a conduit floor;
- and
- a gas delivery system that forms a plurality of jets of gas extending up from the conduit floor, the plurality of jets configured to provide an upward force on a semiconductor substrate within the conduit that is equal to the weight of the semiconductor substrate and thereby float the semiconductor substrate above the conduit floor without physically contacting the conduit floor.
A method of transporting semiconductor substrates comprising:
- processing semiconductor substrates in a plurality of semiconductor processing tools located in a semiconductor processing level of a semiconductor fabrication facility;
- and
- transporting semiconductor substrates laterally from tool to tool in a transportation level of a semiconductor fabrication facility that is vertically offset from the semiconductor processing level, the semiconductor substrates transported directly from tool to tool along routes that are selected according to tool availability and locations of obstructions in the transportation level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.