Single shaft, dual cradle vacuum slot valve

• US 20020096656A1
• Filed: 03/12/2002
• Published: 07/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Inventors: Tomasch, Gregory A., Kroeker, Tony R.
• Granted Patent: US 6,601,824 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 251/195
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 3/188 by means of hydraulic forces
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 51/02 specially adapted for high-vacuum installations
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/0514 Gate valve

Abstract

A single slot valve shaft is in a vacuum body between adjacent vacuum chambers, such as a process module and a transport module. Separate valves are provided on the single shaft actuator for each of two valve body slots, each body slot being closed or opened according to the position of the single shaft. The separate valves allow a vacuum condition to be maintained in the transport module while an adjacent process module is open to the atmosphere for servicing. The single shaft allows access to an open valve for servicing the open valve by way of stops that limit drive travel and hold the valve in an open, but not vertically-spaced, position relative to a respective slot. The open valve is easily reached by a gloved hand of a service worker. The single shaft is mounted on a first cradle, and the first cradle is mounted on a second cradle. Two separate shaft drives move the two cradles to position the single shaft to locate the valves between the slots to open one slot and close the other slot. Another separate shaft drive moves the single shaft vertically down from the open position and away from the slots to expose seal surfaces around the slots for cleaning.

Claims

1. A dual-sided slot valve for use in a semiconductor process cluster tool architecture arrangement, the dual-sided slot valve comprising:

a housing having a first side and a second side, the housing having a first slot at the first side and a second slot at the second side to permit transport of a substrate between a first module and a second module, the first module being attached to the first side of the housing and the second module being attached to the second side of the housing;

a first door movably mounted within the housing to enable closure of the first slot;

a second door movably mounted within the housing to enable closure of the second slot;

a single shaft connected to each of the first and second doors; and

a dual-cradle assembly carrying the single shaft for selectively and separately moving either of the first and second doors to a closed position to close the respective slot.

2. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 1, further comprising:

the single shaft having a central position; and

when the single shaft is in the central position each of the first door and the second door is placed in an open position that is spaced from and between each of the first slot and the second slot; and

the dual-cradle assembly comprising;

first and second cradles; and

a separate drive for each of the cradles, each separate drive having an extended position, the separate drives in the respective extended positions holding the single shaft in the central position so that the first door and the second door are held in the open position.

3. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 2, further comprising:

the first cradle being mounted for rotation relative to the housing and carrying the second cradle, the second cradle carrying the single shaft and being mounted for rotation relative to the first cradle, each of the separate drives also having a retracted position.

4. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 3, further comprising:

a controller for operating the separate drives, the controller causing one of the separate drives to be in the extended position and the other of the separate drives to be in the retracted position to move the first and second doors along a valve open-closed path to and from the respective open and closed positions for selectively and separately moving either of the first and second doors to a closed position to close the respective slot.

5. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 2, the dual-cradle assembly further comprising:

one of the separate drives having two motors mounted on one of the cradles, one of the two motors being mounted to move the single shaft in the central position from between the slots to permit the transport of the substrate between the first module and the second module.

6. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 1, the dual-cradle assembly comprising:

a frame supporting the housing;

a first cradle mounted on the frame for movement relative to the housing;

a second cradle mounted on the first cradle for movement relative to the housing; and

the single shaft being mounted on the second cradle so that the movement of each of the first and second cradles relative to the housing changes the position of the single shaft within the housing to open or close a selected one of the slots.

7. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 6, the dual-cradle assembly further comprising:

a drive for moving each of the cradles in a first common direction to move the single shaft and close one of the slots.

8. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 6, the dual-cradle assembly further comprising:

a drive for moving each of the cradles in a first common direction to move the single shaft and close one of the slots and in a second common direction to move the single shaft and close the other one of the slots.

9. A method of making a dual-sided slot valve for use in a semiconductor process cluster toot architecture arrangement, the method comprising the operations of:

providing a housing having a first side and a second side, the housing having a first slot at the first side and a second slot at the second side to allow transport of a substrate between a first module and a second module;

attaching the first module to the first side of the housing;

attaching the second module to the second side of the housing;

providing a first door within the housing to enable closure of the first slot;

providing a second door within the housing to enable closure of the second slot;

mounting the first and second doors on a single shaft for movement along a first linear path; and

supporting the single shaft on a dual-cradle structure having spaced pivots for selectively and separately moving either of the first and second doors to close the respective slot.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the operations of:

the supporting operation providing a central position for the single shaft so that with the single shaft in the central position each of the first door and the second door is in an open position that is spaced from and between each of the first slot and the second slot.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

the supporting operation comprising;

providing the dual-cradle structure with first and second cradles;

locating one of the spaced pivots aligned with a respective one of the doors that is in the respective closed position; and

mounting each of the cradles on a respective one of the spaced pivots so that the selective and separate moving of either of the first and second doors to close the respective slot is perpendicular to the plane of the respective slot.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

the supporting operation comprising;

providing the dual-cradle structure with first and second cradles;

mounting the first cradle for rotation on one of the spaced pivots on the second cradle for movement between first and second rotary positions;

mounting the single shaft on the first cradle;

mounting the second cradle for rotation on the other of the spaced pivots for movement between third and fourth rotary positions and spaced from the housing; and

limiting the rotation of each of the first and second cradles at the respective first and third rotary positions to position the single shaft in an open-door position.

13. A method of operating a dual-sided slot valve made according to claim 12, further comprising the operations of:

first causing the first cradle to be in the second rotary position;

second causing the second cradle to be in the fourth rotary position;

the first and second causing operations causing the single shaft to move and locate one of the doors to close the first slot; and

third causing the first cradle to be in the first rotary position;

fourth causing the second cradle to be in the third rotary position;

the third and fourth causing operations causing the single shaft to move and locate the other one of the doors to close the second slot.

15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising:

the actuating of the two drives being to extend one of the drives and to retract another one of the drives.

16. A method according to claim 14, wherein:

the applying operation comprising;

mounting one of the cradles for rotation on another of the cradles;

mounting the another cradle for rotation on a valve housing that contains the first and second slots, and

mounting the single shaft on the one of the cradles, each of the two drives rotating one of the cradles; and

the method comprising a further operation of moving the single shaft relative to the one cradle to carry the doors away from the slots to permit the transport of the substrate between the first module and the second module.

18. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 17, further comprising:

the dual-cradle assembly having first and second cradles, the first cradle being mounted for rotation on a first axis on the second cradle, the second cradle being mounted for rotation on a second axis on the vacuum body;

the single shaft being mounted on the first cradle;

the first drive mechanism being mounted on the first and second cradles for rotating the first and second cradles and moving the door-mount end of the actuator in the body toward and away from each of the process module slot and the transport module slot along the closure path; and

the second drive mechanism being mounted on the first cradle for moving the door-mount end toward and away from the body along the access path.

19. A dual-sided slot valve according to claim 17, further comprising:

a controller for separately controlling the first drive and the second drive; and

a computer workstation connected to the controller for enabling the first door to be in other than the closed position for servicing the process module at the same time as the second door is in the closed position to allow the transport module to operate other than in a service mode.

20. A dual-sided slot valve according claim 19, further comprising:

the body having a door-access port to facilitate servicing the doors; and

the computer workstation comprising computer program instructions for causing the controller to operate the shaft drive mechanism and move the first door and the second door along the access path to the up position, and to move the first door along the closure path into an open position, and to move the second door along the closure path to close the second slot, in the up position with the first door in the open position the first door being in a position to be replaced with a clean door supplied through the door-access port.

14. A method for operating a dual-sided slot valve in a semiconductor process cluster tool architecture, the method comprising the operations of:

interfacing the dual-sided slot valve between a first module and a second module;

providing the dual-sided slot valve with a first slot and a second slot for permitting transport of a substrate between the first module and the second module;

providing a first door and a second door within the dual-sided slot valve for enabling closure of the respective first and second slots;

mounting the first door and the second door to a single shaft; and

applying a slot closure force to the single shaft to move the single shaft toward one of the first and second slots to cause the door corresponding to the one slot to close the one slot and to allow the door corresponding to the other slot to keep the other slot open, the applying of the slot closure force being by actuating two drives, each of the two drives being separately coupled to a different respective one of the first and second cradles and the single shaft being mounted on one of the cradles.

17. A dual-sided slot valve for use in a semiconductor process cluster tool architecture arrangement provided with a process module and a transport module, the dual-sided slot valve comprising:

a vacuum body having a first process module side and a second transport module side, the vacuum body having a process module slot at the first side and a transport module slot at the second side for allowing transport of a substrate between the process module and the transport module, the process module being attached to the first side of the body and the transport module being attached to the second side of the body, the first side of the body having a first wall surface and the second side of the body having a second wall surface;

a single shaft having a door-mount end movable in the body toward and away from each of the process module slot and the transport module slot along a closure path, the door-mount end being movable away from the body along an access path that is generally perpendicular to the closure path to provide a line of clear sight between the process module slot and the transport module;

a first door mounted to the door-mount end of the single shaft for movement along the closure path to open and close the process module slot;

a second door mounted to the door-mount end of the single shaft for movement along the closure path to open and close the transport module slot;

the first and second doors being mounted by the single shaft for movement along the access path between an up position and a down position, the down position being away from the line of sight to permit accessing of the slots and the respective wall surfaces adjacent to the slots;

a dual-cradle assembly for carrying the single shaft so that the door-mount end moves along the access path and the closure path; and

a shaft drive mechanism on the dual-cradle assembly, the mechanism having a first drive mechanism mounted on the dual-cradle assembly for moving the door-mount end of the single shaft in the body toward and away from each of the process module slot and the transport module slot along the closure path, the shaft drive mechanism having a second drive mechanism for moving the shaft drive door-mount end toward and away from the body along the access path.

21. A dual-sided slot valve for use in a multi-chamber vacuum system, the dual-sided slot valve comprising:

a housing having a first side and a second side, the housing having a first slot at the first side and a second slot at the second side to permit transport of a substrate between a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber being attached to the first side of the housing and the second chamber being attached to the second side of the housing;

a first door movably mounted within the housing to enable closure of the first slot;

a second door movably mounted within the housing to enable closure of the second slot;

a single shaft connected to each of the first and second doors; and

a dual-cradle assembly carrying the single shaft for selectively and separately moving either of the first and second doors to a closed position to close the respective slot.