Vacuum processing apparatus having improved throughput

A method for depositing thin films onto a glass substrate which comprises the steps in sequence:

• a) loading a plurality of glass substrates into a load lock/cooling chamber and evacuating said chamber;
• b) transferring all of said glass substrates through a connecting vacuum transfer chamber to a chamber adapted for heating said substrates to elevated temperatures;
• c) transferring one of the heated substrates from step b) through the transfer chamber to a single substrate processing chamber and depositing a thin film thereon;
• and
• d) transferring a substrate from step c) back to the load lock/cooling chamber of step a) and cooling the substrate.

A method for processing films on a glass substrate which comprises the steps in sequence:

• a) loading a plurality of glass substrates into a load lock/cooling chamber and evacuating said chamber;
• b) transferring all of said glass substrates through a connecting vacuum transfer chamber to a chamber adapted for heating said substrates to elevated temperatures for processing;
• c) transferring one of the heated substrates from step b) through the transfer chamber to a single substrate processing chamber for processing;
• and
• d) transferring a processed substrate from step c) back to the load lock/cooling chamber of step a) and cooling the substrate.

A method for processing substrates in a multi-chamber vacuum system comprising a heating chamber accommodating a plurality of substrates, a processing chamber, and a transfer chamber communicating with both said heating chamber and said processing chamber, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) a first step of transferring a first substrate within said multi-chamber vacuum system into said heating chamber;
• b) heating a plurality of substrates within said heating chamber including said first substrate;
• c) a second step of transferring said heated first substrate from said heating chamber to said processing chamber to process said first substrate therein at an elevated temperature, said first and second transferring steps leaving a plurality of said substrates resident in said heating chamber at a same time;
• and
• d) a third step of transferring said processed first substrate out of said processing chamber.

A vacuum processing system comprising:

• a) an evacuable transfer chamber;
• b) a heating chamber in communication with said transfer chamber and accommodating a plurality of substrates for heating said substrates therein to an elevated temperature;
• c) at least one evacuable single-wafer processing chamber selectively in communication with said transfer chamber;
• d) at least one evacuable load lock chamber selectively in communication with said transfer chamber for transfer of said substrates into and out of said vacuum processing system;
• and
• e) a robot principally disposed in said transfer chamber for transferring said substrates between said load lock chamber, said heating chamber and said processing chamber.