Vacuum processing apparatus

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure provided with a first robot for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure, the cassette mount unit, the second conveyor structure, the set of lock chambers and the vacuum loader are arranged in tandem in series,
• the second conveyor structure is disposed between a set of two cassettes and the set of lock chambers, the set of lock chambers including a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer,
• the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot extendable to the wafer horizontally located in the lock chambers,
• the lock chambers are each provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and
• the second robot faces to a set of wafers disposed in the cassette and transfers the wafers one by one to a lock chamber in which one wafer is to be disposed, and a third robot, of the third conveyor structure is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader so as to face to the lock chambers.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, third conveyor structure, and at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure, the cassette mount unit, the second conveyor structure, the set of lock chambers and the vacuum loader are arranged in tandem in series,
• the second conveyor structure is disposed between the cassette mount unit and the set of lock chambers which comprise a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer,
• the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot extendable to the wafer horizontally located and to the lock chambers, and
• the lock chambers are each provided with an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and
• a third robot is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the lock chambers.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer held in the cassette on the cassette mount unit;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to the cassette mount unit,
• the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of cassette tables exposed to the air,
• the first robot is adapted to transfer, exposed to the air, a cassette to each of the cassette tables,
• the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto a cassette table in a state that a window portion of the cassette, through which wafers are removed from the cassette, faces to the set of lock chambers and a portion of the cassette opposite to the window portion faces to the first conveyor structure, and
• the second conveyor structure is disposed between a set of two cassettes and a set of the lock chambers which comprises a chamber to take in and to take out a wafer one by one, and another chamber to take in and to take out a processed wafer.

The vacuum processing system comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette mount unit for holding the cassette, the cassette mount unit having at least one cassette table;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer in the cassette held on the cassette mount unit;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, of the cassette mount unit, exposed to the air,
• the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of cassette tables, each of which is adapted to hold one cassette,
• the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot, the second robot being adapted to travel along a traveling direction of the first conveyor structure and traveling on a track of the second conveyor structure,
• the set of lock chambers includes a load lock chamber and a separate unload lock chamber,
• the third conveyor structure includes a third robot which transfers a wafer from the load lock chamber to the conveyor chamber and a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to the unload lock chamber,
• the first robot, the second robot and the third robot are arranged in tandem in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the first conveyor structure, and
• the set of lock chambers is provided with both an inlet nd an outlet located in a horizontal line, and the third robot is disposed in the conveyor chamber of the vacuum loader and provided with an arm extendable into the set of lock chambers.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette mount unit for holding a cassette, the cassette mount unit having at least one cassette table;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer in a cassette held on the cassette mount unit;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber, a third conveyor structure and at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a set of lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table of the cassette mount unit, exposed to the air,
• the cassette mount unit is provided with a set of two cassette tables, each of which holds one cassette,
• the second conveyor structure is provided with a second robot, the second robot being adapted to travel in a traveling direction of the first robot on a track of the first conveyor structure,
• the set of lock chambers includes a load lock chamber and a separate unload lock chamber,
• the third conveyor structure includes a third robot which is adapted to transfer a wafer from the load lock chamber to the conveyor chamber and a processed wafer from the conveyor chamber to the unload lock chamber, and
• the wafer is transferred from a cassette on the cassette mount table to the vacuum processing chamber by the second robot and the third robot in a state that a horizontal line is kept in the extent of one cassette height during transportation of the wafer.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette table for holding the cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;
• at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air,
• the first conveyor structure is adapted to travel parallel to the lock chamber over the longitudinal length of the lock chamber, and
• the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassete holder onto the cassette table.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette table for holding the cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;
• at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a lock chamber disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air, and
• the first conveyor structure is adapted to transfer a cassette containing processed wafers, on the cassette table, to the cassette holder of the first conveyor structure, and
• the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto the cassette table.

A vacuum processing system, comprising:

• a first conveyor structure for transferring a cassette;
• a cassette table for holding a cassette;
• a second conveyor structure for transferring a wafer;
• a vacuum loader provided with a conveyor chamber and a third conveyor structure;
• at least one vacuum processing chamber;
• and
• a lock chambers disposed between the second conveyor structure and the vacuum loader,
• wherein:
• the first conveyor structure is provided with a cassette holder and a first robot for transferring the cassette from the cassette holder to a cassette table, exposed to the air, the cassette holder of the first conveyor structure being adapted to carry a pair of cassettes,
• the first robot is adapted to transfer the cassette from the cassette holder onto the cassette table.