Continuous Substrate Processing System

A processing method comprising:

• positioning at least one substrate onto a substrate carrier;
• loading the substrate carrier into a process chamber;
• moving the substrate carrier through a plurality of processing slots in the process chamber;
• and
• unloading the substrate carrier from the process chamber,
• wherein the process chamber comprises a chamber body with a first opening near a bottom end and a second opening near a top end of the chamber body, a substrate latch comprising at least three movable contacting latches positioned near the bottom end of the chamber body, the at least three movable contacting latches configured to support a vertical stack of substrate carriers, and a substrate support assembly to secure and support an additional substrate carrier and load the additional substrate carrier into the process chamber through the first opening.