Substrate handling and processing system

A system for handling and serially processing a plurality of substrates, said system comprising:

• means defining a main vacuum chamber;
• at least one processing station contiguous with said main vacuum chamber;
• an entrance load lock having an entrance opening and a first movable door for sealing said entrance opening, and an exit opening and a second movable door for sealing said exit opening;
• an output load lock having an entrance opening and a third movable door for sealing said entrance opening, and an exit opening and a fourth movable door for sealing said exit opening;
• a buffer chamber having an entrance opening and exit opening therein;
• said buffer chamber being in selective sealed communication with said main chamber and operatively connected to and disposed between said entrance load lock and said exit load lock, said load locks and said buffer chamber being positioned whereby said second movable door provides a movable sealable common door between said entrance load lock exit opening and said buffer chamber entrance opening and said third movable door provides a common movable sealable door between said exit load lock entrance opening and said buffer chamber exit opening;
• first transport means for transporting said substrates from said entrance load lock through said buffer chamber to said exit load lock;
• buffer chamber load means for transferring said substrates from said buffer chamber to said main vacuum chamber;
• buffer chamber unload means for transferring said substrates from said main vacuum chamber to said buffer chamber;
• main chamber transport means for transferring said substrates to and from said processing stations;
• said main chamber transport means designed and configured to receive one of said substrates from said buffer chamber load means after the substrate has been processed and to transfer one of said substrates to said buffer chamber unload means;
• said main chamber transport means being used to effect simultaneous one-station indexing on all said substrates within said main vacuum chamber, whereby said individual substrates are transported through said system, being processed sequentially in each of said processing stations, all of said processing stations simultaneously processing said substrates, thereby allowing a high rate of production to be achieved.
• said main chamber transport means including sealing means whereby said processing stations are isolated during processing when the substrates are positioned in their respective processing stations by said main chamber transport means and said processing stations are isolated from said main vacuum chamber such that when an individual processing station is vented to atmosphere said sealing means maintains an effective vacuum seal between the atmosphere and said vacuum chamber by virtue of the atmospheric pressure exerted on the sealing means.