Micro-controlled environment carrier with pedestals

A component carrier (200) for transferring and carrying one or more components (20) to be processed in a component processing apparatus like a press sintering apparatus, and comprising a component support (210),

• wherein the component support comprises:
• one or more positioning openings (213) formed through the component support from a top surface (210a) of the component support to a bottom surface (210b) of the component support, wherein each positioning opening defines a component position for holding a component to be processed and a component held in the component position is exposed at the top surface of the component support, and,
• one or more movable pedestals (212) associated with the one or more positioning openings, respectively,
• wherein each movable pedestal is received and slidably mounted within the associated positioning opening for moving along a direction A between the top and bottom surfaces of the component support to bring a top end (212a) of the movable pedestal into and out of contact with a component held in the component position defined by the positioning opening for, in operation, carrying and making thermal contact to a respective component during processing of the component(s), and
• wherein each pedestal is made of a thermally conductive material and a bottom end (212b) of each pedestal is exposed at a bottom surface (210b) of the component support for, in operation, making thermal contact to a heat source for heating the pedestal and the respective component when in contact with the pedestal.