Patent ID: 6042623
Filing Date: 2000-03-28
Classification: H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of transferring wafers between multi-wafer carriers and a high vacuum environment of a transfer chamber of a wafer processing cluster tool, the method comprising the steps of:positioning a first multi-wafer carrier in communication with a clean atmospheric environment adjacent to a robot transfer device that is located in an atmospheric front end of the tool; thensuccessively transferring a first and a second wafer with the robot transfer device from the first carrier and into a two-wafer loadlock, operating as an inbound loadlock, that is open to the atmospheric environment and sealed from the high vacuum environment of the transfer chamber; thensealing the loadlock from the atmospheric environment; thenpumping the loadlock to a vacuum pressure level; thenopening the loadlock to the high vacuum environment of the transfer chamber; thensuccessively removing the first and second wafers from the loadlock with a transfer arm located in the transfer chamber and placing the first and second wafers into one or more vacuum processing chambers when such chambers are in communication with the high vacuum environment; andsuccessively removing the first and second wafers, with the transfer arm located in the transfer chambers, from one or more vacuum processing chambers when such chambers are in communication with the high vacuum environment of the transfer chamber and placing the first and second wafers into a two-wafer loadlock, operating as an outbound loadlock, that is open to the high vacuum environment and sealed from the atmospheric environment of the front end of the tool; thensealing the outbound loadlock from the high vacuum environment of the transfer chamber; thenventing the outbound loadlock to a pressure level of the atmospheric environment of the front end of the tool; thenopening the outbound loadlock to the atmospheric environment of the front end; thensuccessively transferring the first and second wafers from the outbound loadlock to a carrier.