Patent ID: 11961758
Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. A method of transferring a substrate to a substrate processing chamber in which the substrate is processed, the method comprising:
transferring the substrate using a substrate transfer module in a substrate transfer chamber including a floor surface portion in which a traveling surface-side magnet is provided and a sidewall portion in which an opening for loading/unloading the substrate between the substrate transfer chamber and the substrate processing chamber is formed, wherein the substrate transfer module includes a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate and a floating body-side magnet that acts a repulsive force with the traveling surface-side magnet, and is configured to be movable on a traveling surface formed in a region provided with the traveling surface-side magnet by magnetic floating using the repulsive force; and
assisting, by a transfer assist mechanism, the transferring the substrate between the substrate transfer chamber and a substrate processing position inside the substrate processing chamber via a non-traveling region when the substrate is transferred by the substrate transfer module to the substrate processing chamber connected to the substrate transfer chamber via a gate valve configured to open/close the opening and constituting the non-traveling region in which the substrate transfer module is not movable by the magnetic floating,
wherein the transfer assist mechanism is a bridging module configured to be movable with the substrate transfer module placed on the bridging module between an accommodation position at which the transfer assist mechanism forms the traveling surface provided with the traveling surface-side magnet and integrated with the floor surface portion in a state of being accommodated in the floor surface portion of the substrate transfer chamber, and a bridging position at which the transfer assist mechanism forms the traveling surface to cover the non-traveling region when the gate valve is in an opened state.