Patent ID: 8096744

Claim:
A wafer processing system for processing a subject wafer retained by a platen device installed in a vacuum process chamber, comprising: first and second load lock chambers each having a load lock pedestal provided adjacent to said vacuum process chamber through a vacuum intermediate chamber, a single passage opening provided between said vacuum process chamber and said vacuum intermediate chamber, first and second wafer retaining arms installed by first and second rotation axes between said platen device in said vacuum process chamber, first and second load lock pedestals installed in said first and second load lock chambers, and a controller configured to move said first and second wafer retaining arms in a vertical direction along said first and second rotation axes and on the same turning radius with said first and second rotation axes, and configured to normally or reversely rotate said first and second wafer retaining arms at the same instant between the corresponding first and second load lock pedestals and said platen device, while passing a segment that connects between said first and second rotation axes of said first and second wafer retaining arms to make inward rotation motions, and configured to pass said first and second wafer retaining arms through said single passage opening and overpass each other at different levels with normally and reversely rotations thereof, wherein said controller is configured such that one of said first and second wafer retaining arms retains a processed wafer and transfers the processed wafer from said platen device to the corresponding load lock pedestal and such that the other wafer retaining arm retains an unprocessed wafer and transfers the unprocessed wafer from the corresponding load lock pedestal to said platen device, wherein the controller is configured to transfer both of said processed wafer and said unprocessed wafer at the same instant with normally and reversely rotating of said first and second wafer retaining arms, wherein the controller is configured to maintain vertical positions of said first and second wafer retaining arms with holding said processed wafer and said unprocessed wafer at heights that do not interfere with each other, wherein the controller is configured such that when said first and second wafer retaining arms rotate normally and reversely each other at the same instant, one of said processed wafer and said unprocessed wafer held by said first and second wafer retaining arms overlaps the other, wherein the controller is configured to rotate each of said first and second wafer retaining arms normally or reversely between the corresponding load lock pedestal and said platen device by making a rotational motion on the rotation axis, and wherein said rotation axes of said first and second wafer retaining arms are set at different positions which are apart from each other by a distance longer than a length of each of said first and second wafer retaining arms.