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Front end wafer staging with wafer cassette turntables and on-the-fly wafer center finding

  • US 6,082,950 A
  • Filed: 11/18/1996
  • Issued: 07/04/2000
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for introducing wafers into a processing system, comprising:

  • (a) a loadlock chamber having first and second openings and at least one wafer cassette secured therein, the wafer cassette comprising at least two coplanar wafer seats disposed side-by-side;

    (b) a transfer chamber connected to the first opening in the loadlock chamber;

    (c) an enclosure connected to the second opening in the loadlock chamber, the enclosure having a base, a top, sidewalls, and a door, the enclosure comprising;

    (i) two or more wafer cassette turntables disposed in the enclosure and rotatably mounted on a support platform in proximity to the loadlock chamber; and

    (ii) a wafer handler module mounted on the support platform adjacent the two or more wafer cassette turntables.

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