Substrate loading and unloading station with buffer
View Patent ↗A substrate processing apparatus having a station for loading and unloading substrates from the apparatus, includes an aperture closure for sealing a loading and unloading aperture of the station, apparatus for removing a door of a substrate magazine and thus opening the substrate magazine, and for operating the aperture closure to open the aperture, and an elevator for precisely positioning the open substrate magazine along a vertical axis within a usable range of motion. The station may also include a sensor for mapping locations of the substrates, and a mini-environment for interfacing the station to a substrate processing system.
1. A substrate processing apparatus having a station for loading and unloading substrates from the apparatus, the station comprising:
an aperture closure for sealing a loading and unloading aperture of the station;
apparatus for removing a door of a substrate magazine to open the substrate magazine, and for operating the aperture closure to open the aperture;
a mini-environment for isolating an interior of the open substrate magazine from the surrounding atmosphere; and
an elevator for precisely positioning the open substrate magazine along a vertical axis within a usable range of motion within the mini-environment, wherein all substrate positions within the open magazine are accessible by a transport apparatus requiring substantially no vertical movement by the transport apparatus.
2. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the elevator operates such that the substrate within the open magazine is positioned substantially in a wafer transport plane, and the transport apparatus accesses the substrate in the wafer transport plane through the aperture.
3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a substrate buffer for temporary substrate storage.
4. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the station further comprises a shuttle for transporting the one or more magazines along a third axis oriented in a third direction different from the first and second directions.
5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mini-environment operates to interface the station to the substrate processing apparatus.
6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the station further comprises a sensor for mapping vertical locations of the substrates.
7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the sensor is mounted to a frame of the station and an is capable of mapping the vertical location while the elevator is precisely positioning the open substrate magazine along the vertical axis.
8. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the sensor is rotatably mounted on a frame of the station such that upon removal of a door of the magazine, the sensor extends inside the magazine.
9. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the station further comprises at least one peripheral area and a central area.
10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a buffer transport for positioning one or more substrate magazines along a second axis oriented in a second direction.
11. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the buffer transport is operable to place the one or more magazines in the at least one peripheral area and the central area.
12. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the elevator is operable to move the one or more magazines placed in the central area.