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US 6,672,864 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for processing substrates in a system having high and low pressure areas
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsHougong Wang, Zheng Xu, Kenny King-Tai Ngan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A positive pressure gradient is maintained across an open access port of an interface chamber such as a load lock chamber which provides an interface between a low pressure chamber such as a transfer or buffer chamber, and a high pressure area such as a staging area or factory interface area. When the access port of the interface chamber is open to the high-pressure area, the positive pressure gradient may be used in some applications to inhibit the flow of gasses from the high-pressure area into the interior of the interface chamber.
Claims20
A method of processing a semiconductor substrate in a heating chamber having a valve through which a substrate may be selectively loaded into and unloaded from said heating chamber, comprising:
- pressurizing the interior of said heating chamber containing a processed substrate with a purge gas to a pressure greater than the pressure external to said valve to provide a positive pressure differential between said chamber interior and said valve external pressure;
- opening said chamber valve;
- admitting said purge gas into said chamber interior while said chamber valve is open to maintain a positive pressure differential while said chamber valve is open;
- removing a said processed substrate from said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- loading an unprocessed substrate into said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- closing said chamber valve;
- pumping gas from said chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and
- heating said unprocessed substrate while pumping said chamber.
6 more elements
A method of processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- loading a processed substrate from a process chamber into an opened load lock chamber having a first interior pressure;
- closing the load lock chamber;
- admitting a purge gas into the load lock chamber to vent the load lock chamber to a second, higher pressure greater than ambient pressure and to cool the substrate;
- opening the load lock chamber and continuing to admit said purge gas into the chamber interior while the chamber is open;
- removing the processed substrate from the opened load lock chamber and loading it into a cassette at ambient pressure;
- loading an unprocessed substrate from a cassette at ambient pressure into the opened load lock chamber;
- closing the load lock chamber;
- pumping gas from the chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and
- heating the unprocessed substrate to degas the unprocessed substrate while pumping the chamber wherein the heating is initiated at a load lock chamber interior pressure in a range of 10-760 Torr.
7 more elements
A system for processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- a chamber having a slit valve through which a substrate may be selectively loaded into and unloaded from said chamber, and a heater adapted to heat a substrate in said chamber,
- a purge gas inlet adapted to admit a purge gas into the interior of said chamber;
- a pump coupled to said chamber and adapted to pump gas from the interior of said chamber;
- a robot adapted to load substrates through said chamber valve into said chamber;
- and
- a controller adapted to control said valve, pump, inlet and robot to pressurize the interior of said heating chamber with a purge gas to a pressure greater than the pressure external to said valve to provide a positive pressure differential between said chamber interior and said valve external pressure;
- to open said chamber valve;
- to admit said purge gas into said chamber interior while said chamber valve is open to maintain a positive pressure differential while said chamber valve is open;
- to load a substrate into said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to close said chamber valve;
- to pump gas from said chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and to heat said unprocessed substrate while pumping said chamber wherein said controller initiates said heating when said interior pressure is in a range of 10-760 Torr.
9 more elements
A load lock system for transferring a semiconductor substrate from ambient pressure to a vacuum pressure, said system for use with a purge gas source and a pump, comprising:
- a load lock chamber having a slit valve through which a substrate may selectively loaded into and unloaded from said chamber, and a heater adapted to heat a substrate in said chamber,
- a purge gas inlet adapted to be coupled to said source and to admit a purge gas into the interior of said chamber;
- and
- a controller adapted to control said valve, pump, and inlet to pressurize the interior of said heating chamber with a purge gas to a pressure greater than the ambient pressure external to said valve to provide a positive pressure differential between said chamber interior and said valve external pressure;
- to open said chamber valve;
- to admit said purge gas into said chamber interior while said chamber valve is open to maintain a positive pressure differential while said chamber valve is open;
- to load a substrate into said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to close said chamber valve after an unprocessed substrate is loaded into said chamber interior;
- to pump gas from said chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and to heat said unprocessed substrate while pumping said chamber wherein said controller initiates said heating when said interior pressure is in a range of 10-760 Torr.
7 more elements
A system for processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- a load lock chamber having a slit valve through which a substrate may be selectively loaded into and unloaded from said chamber, and a heater adapted to heat a substrate in said chamber,
- a purge gas inlet adapted to admit a purge gas into the interior of said chamber;
- a pump coupled to said chamber and adapted to pump gas from the interior of said chamber;
- a cassette;
- a robot adapted to load and unload substrates through said chamber valve between said chamber and said cassette;
- and
- a controller adapted to control said valve, pump, inlet and robot to pressurize the interior of said heating chamber with a purge gas to a pressure greater than the pressure external to said valve to provide a positive pressure differential between said chamber interior and said valve external pressure;
- to open said chamber valve;
- to admit said purge gas into said chamber interior while said chamber valve is open to maintain a positive pressure differential while said chamber valve is open;
- to unload a processed substrate from said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to load an unprocessed substrate into said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to close said chamber valve;
- to pump gas from said chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and to heat said unprocessed substrate while pumping said chamber.
11 more elements
A system for processing a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- a load lock chamber having a slit valve through which a substrate may be selectively loaded into and unloaded from said chamber, and a heater adapted to heat a substrate in said chamber,
- a purge gas inlet adapted to admit a purge gas into the interior of said chamber;
- a pump coupled to said chamber and adapted to pump gas from the interior of said chamber;
- a cassette;
- a robot adapted to load and unload substrates through said chamber valve between said chamber and said cassette;
- and
- controller means for controlling said valve, pump, inlet and robot to pressurize the interior of said heating chamber with a purge gas to a pressure greater than the pressure external to said valve to provide a positive pressure differential between said chamber interior and said valve external pressure;
- for opening said chamber valve;
- to admit said purge gas into said chamber interior while said chamber valve is open to maintain a positive pressure differential while said chamber valve is open;
- to unload a processed substrate from said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to load an unprocessed substrate into said chamber interior through said opened chamber valve;
- to close said chamber valve;
- to pump gas from said chamber interior to lower the chamber interior pressure;
- and to heat said unprocessed substrate while pumping said chamber.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.