Patent ID: 7743728

Claim:
A cluster tool for processing substrates, comprising: a first processing rack comprising a first substrate processing chamber and a second substrate processing chamber, wherein the second substrate processing chamber is positioned at a first vertical distance from the first substrate processing chamber; a second processing rack comprising a third substrate processing chamber and a fourth substrate processing chamber, wherein the fourth substrate processing chamber is positioned at a second vertical distance from the third substrate processing chamber, and wherein the first and third substrate processing chambers are each positioned at a fixed distance in a horizontal direction from each other and the second and fourth substrate processing chambers are each positioned at a fixed distance in the horizontal direction from each other; and a first robot assembly having a first robot blade and a second robot blade, wherein the first robot blade receives a first substrate from the first processing chamber and the second robot blade receives a second substrate from the second processing chamber generally simultaneously, and then deposit the first substrate in the third substrate processing chamber and the second substrate in the fourth substrate processing chamber; and a second robot assembly having a first robot blade and a second robot blade, wherein the first robot blade receives the first substrate from the first processing chamber and the second robot blade receives the second substrate from the second processing chamber generally simultaneously, and then deposit the first substrate in the third substrate processing chamber and the second substrate in the fourth substrate processing chamber.