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US 8,074,597 B2Granted
Methods and apparatus for purging a substrate carrier
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsVinay K. Shah, Eric Englhardt, Jeffrey C. Hudgens, Martin Elliott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a first aspect, a substrate carrier is provided that includes an enclosure adapted to be sealable and to house at least one substrate. The substrate carrier includes a first port leading into the enclosure and adapted to allow a flow of gas into the enclosure while the substrate carrier is closed. Numerous other aspects are provided.
Claims13
A substrate carrier comprising:
- an enclosure adapted to be sealable and to house at least one substrate;
- and
- a first port leading into the enclosure adapted to couple to a gas supply channel and to allow a flow of gas into the enclosure while the substrate carrier is closed,
- wherein the enclosure, when sealed closed and gas is then flowed into the enclosure via the first port, is adapted to contain and maintain an internal pressure greater than an air pressure external to the enclosure,
- wherein the first port includes a first seal adapted to allow the gas supply channel to seal to the first port, and
- wherein the first port further includes a second seal disposed concentrically around the first seal and adapted to seal to a vacuum supply channel disposed concentrically around the gas supply channel while gas flows into the enclosure.
3 more elements
A substrate carrier comprising:
- an enclosure adapted to be sealable and to house at least one substrate;
- and
- a first port leading into the enclosure adapted to couple to a gas supply channel and to allow a flow of gas into the enclosure while the substrate carrier is closed,
- wherein the first port includes a first seal adapted to allow the gas supply channel to seal to the first port,
- wherein the first port further includes a second seal disposed concentrically around the first seal and adapted to seal to a vacuum supply channel disposed concentrically around the gas supply channel, and
- wherein the vacuum supply channel is adapted to apply vacuum pressure which pulls the gas supply channel and the vacuum supply channel toward the first port.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.