METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
A method and apparatus for semiconductor processing is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of transporting a wafer within a cluster tool, comprises placing the wafer into a first segment of a vacuum enclosure, the vacuum enclosure being attached to a processing chamber and a factory interface. The wafer is transported to a second segment of the vacuum enclosure using a vertical transport mechanism, wherein the second segment is above or below the first segment.
1 . A cluster tool, comprising:
a vacuum enclosure;
a linear drive to connected to the vacuum enclosure;
a processing chamber; and
a vertical transport mechanism to transport a wafer between the vacuum enclosure and a second vacuum enclosure.
2 . The cluster tool of claim 1 , wherein the vertical transport mechanism is disposed at the top of the cluster tool.
3 . The cluster tool of claim 1 , wherein the linear drive is external to the vacuum enclosure and the processing chamber.
4 . The cluster tool of claim 1 , wherein the linear drive and the vertical transport mechanism are controlled by a computer executing mechanism control software.
5 . The cluster tool of claim 4 , wherein the linear drive is connected to the vacuum enclosure through a gate valve.
6 . The cluster tool of claim 4 , wherein the processing chamber is connected to the vacuum enclosure through a gate valve.
7 . The cluster tool of claim 5 , wherein an extension having two ends is connected at one end to the gate valve at the other end to the vacuum enclosure.
8 . The cluster tool of claim 4 , wherein the linear drive extends to move the wafer to and from the processing chamber.
9 . The cluster tool of claim 4 , wherein the linear drive is disposed between the vacuum enclosure and the processing chamber.
10 . The cluster tool of claim 9 , wherein the linear drive transports simultaneously a first wafer in the vacuum enclosure and a second wafer in the processing chamber.
11 . The cluster tool of claim 10 , further comprising a rotational drive to rotate the first wafer and the second wafer.
12 . The cluster tool of claim 11 , wherein the rotational drive is external to the vacuum chamber.
13 . The cluster tool of claim 1 , further comprising a pumping module to supply vacuum conditions to the vacuum enclosure.
14 . The cluster tool of claim 1 , wherein the vacuum enclosure is a load-lock chamber.
15 . A cluster tool, comprising:
a vacuum enclosure;
a vertical transport mechanism to transport a wafer across a vertical transport path between a first vacuum enclosure and a second vacuum enclosure, the second vacuum enclosure being disposed along the vertical transport path;
a plurality of processing chambers; and
a plurality of linear drives to transport the wafer between the first vacuum enclosure and the processing chambers.
16 . The cluster tool of claim 15 , wherein the first vacuum enclosure is disposed between the processing chambers and the linear drives.
17 . The cluster tool of claim 15 , wherein the linear drives are disposed between the processing chambers and the first vacuum enclosure.
18 . The cluster tool of claim 15 , wherein the linear drives are external to the first vacuum enclosure.
19 . The cluster tool of claim 15 , where the linear drives and the vertical transport mechanism are controlled by a computer executing mechanism control software.
20 . The cluster tool of claim 19 , wherein the linear drives are connected to the first vacuum enclosure through gate valves.
21 . The cluster tool of claim 19 , wherein the processing chambers are connected to the first vacuum enclosure through gate valves.
22 . The cluster tool of claim 21 , wherein extensions have two ends are connected at one to the gate valves at the other end to the first vacuum enclosure.
23 . The cluster tool of claim 17 , wherein the linear drives transport simultaneously a first wafer in the first vacuum enclosure and a second wafer in the processing chambers.
24 . The cluster tool of claim 23 , further comprising a plurality of rotational drives to rotate the first wafer and the second wafer.
25 . The cluster tool of claim 24 , wherein the rotational drives are external to the first vacuum chamber.