Patent ID: 8877553

Claim:
A method of processing a substrate, comprising: moving a substrate from a transfer chamber, through a slit valve and into a processing chamber; heating the substrate in the processing chamber; heating the processing chamber; conductively heating the slit valve, the slit valve coupled to the processing chamber and the transfer chamber, the transfer chamber has: an opening through thea transfer chamber body sized to permit passage of one or more substrates therethrough; and a plurality of slots disposed through the transfer chamber body; the slit valve comprising: a slit valve body having an opening therethrough, the opening sized to permit passage of a substrate through the opening; and one or more spacer elements coupled with the slit valve body and able to slide along a side of the transfer chamber when the slit valve moves due to thermal expansion and contraction; and expanding the slit valve, the expanding comprising sliding the one or more spacer elements along a first surface of the transfer chamber.