Patent ID: 8104770

Claim:
A process chamber comprising a container, a lid, and a seal which seals an interface between the container and the lid; wherein: the container defines a processing space and an access opening into this processing space; the lid is convertible between a sealed condition, whereat it seals the access opening into the processing space, and a loading/unloading condition, whereat the access opening is uncovered for insertion/withdrawal of a substrate; the container includes an interface surface surrounding the access opening and the lid includes an interface surface seated against the container's interface surface when in its sealed condition; the container's interface surface and/or the lid's interface surface includes at least one groove in which the seal is situated; and the seal comprises an elastomeric element and a metallic element arranged to seal the interface in series, the metallic element being situated to encounter processing activity upstream of the elastomeric element relative to the processing space, wherein the metallic element comprises a pair of arm portions, one arm portion for contacting the ceiling of the groove and the other arm portion for contacting the floor of the groove, and an energizing portion interconnecting the arm portions.