IP Library Granted Patent US 12,486,120
Granted Patent B2
US 12,486,120 · App. 17/205,878 · Granted Dec 2, 2025

Substrate processing system carrier

Inventors: Aaron Green (Sunnyvale, CA); Nicholas Michael Bergantz (Sunnyvale, CA); Damon K. Cox (Jarrell, TX); Andreas Schmid (Meyriez, CH)
Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
B65G47/90B25J15/08
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,486,120
App. No.
17/205,878
Granted
Dec 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A carrier includes a rigid body forming a plurality of openings and a plurality of fasteners configured to removably attach to the rigid body via the plurality of openings. A first set of fingers is configured to be removably attached to the rigid body via the plurality of fasteners and the plurality of openings. The first set of fingers is configured to support first content during first transportation of the carrier within a substrate processing system. A second set of fingers is configured to be removably attached to the rigid body via the plurality of fasteners and the plurality of openings. The second set of fingers is configured to support second content during second transportation of the carrier within the substrate processing system.

Claims (53)

1 . A carrier comprising:

a rigid body forming a plurality of openings extending completely through the rigid body from an upper surface of the rigid body to a lower surface of the rigid body and offset from a perimeter of the rigid body; and

a plurality of fasteners configured to removably attach to the rigid body via the plurality of openings, wherein:

a first set of fingers is configured to be removably attached to the rigid body via the plurality of fasteners and the plurality of openings to extend outwardly from the perimeter of the rigid body, the first set of fingers being configured to support a first content substantially parallel to the upper surface of the rigid body during first transportation of the carrier within a substrate processing system; and

a second set of fingers is configured to be removably attached to the rigid body via the plurality of fasteners and the plurality of openings to extend outwardly from the perimeter of the rigid body responsive to the plurality of fasteners being removed from the first set of fingers and the plurality of openings and the first set of fingers not being attached to the rigid body, the second set of fingers being configured to support a second content substantially parallel to the upper surface of the rigid body during second transportation of the carrier within the substrate processing system.

2 . The carrier of claim 1 , the first content comprises one or more of:

a new process kit ring;

a used process kit ring;

a new chamber component of the substrate processing system; or

a used chamber component of the substrate processing system.

3 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers comprises:

a first upper surface disposed substantially in a first plane, wherein the first upper surface is configured to receive the first content;

a second upper surface disposed substantially in a second plane that is above the first plane; and

a sidewall disposed between the first upper surface and the second upper surface, wherein the sidewall comprises an upper portion that has about a 15 degree angle and a lower portion that has about a 5 degree angle relative to the first upper surface.

4 . The carrier of claim 3 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers further comprises a chamfer between the first upper surface and the sidewall.

5 . The carrier of claim 3 , wherein the sidewall has a first coefficient of friction and the first upper surface has a second coefficient of friction that is greater than the first coefficient of friction.

6 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers comprises a first type of material configured for first conditions, and wherein each finger of the second set of fingers comprises a second type of material configured for second conditions that are different than the first conditions.

7 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers has at least one of a first size or a first shape to transport the first content above the rigid body, and wherein each finger of the second set of fingers has at least one of a second size different from the first size or a second shape different from the first shape to transport the second content above the rigid body.

8 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers is configured to dissipate electrostatic charge.

9 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein the first content contacts the first set of fingers without contacting the rigid body during the first transportation of the carrier.

10 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings are slots, wherein each finger of the first set of fingers are adjustably located on the rigid body.

11 . The carrier of claim 1 , the first set of fingers are three fingers.

12 . The carrier of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the first set of fingers forms a recess to receive one or more process kit rings supported by the carrier.

13 . A finger configured to removably attach to a rigid body of a carrier of a substrate processing system, the finger comprising:

a first upper surface disposed substantially in a first plane, wherein the first upper surface is configured to support a content substantially parallel to an upper surface of the rigid body the rigid body during transportation of the carrier;

a second upper surface disposed substantially in a second plane that is above the first plane;

a sidewall disposed between the first upper surface and the second upper surface; and

a lower surface, wherein:

a first opening extends completely through the finger from the second upper surface to the lower surface;

the lower surface forms a recess to receive a portion of the rigid body forming a second opening;

the second opening extends completely through the rigid body from an upper rigid body surface of the rigid body to a lower rigid body surface of the rigid body and offset from a perimeter of the rigid body;

the finger is to removably attach to the rigid body via a fastener inserted through the first opening of the finger and the second opening of the rigid body; and

the finger is configured to extend outwardly from the perimeter of the rigid body responsive to being removably attached to the rigid body via the fastener.

14 . The finger of claim 13 , wherein the sidewall comprises an upper portion that has about a 15 degree angle and a lower portion that has about a 5 degree angle relative to the first upper surface.

15 . The finger of claim 13 , wherein the sidewall has a first coefficient of friction and the first upper surface has a second coefficient of friction that is greater than the first coefficient of friction.

16 . The finger of claim 13 , wherein the finger is configured to dissipate electrostatic charge.

17 . A method comprising:

determining first conditions associated with first transportation in a substrate processing system;

identifying a first set of fingers corresponding to the first conditions;

attaching the first set of fingers to a rigid body of a carrier via a plurality of fasteners and a plurality of openings formed by the rigid body to extend outwardly from a perimeter of the rigid body responsive to the plurality of fasteners being removed from a second set of fingers and the plurality of openings and the second set of fingers not being attached to the rigid body, the plurality of openings being formed by the rigid body and extending completely through the rigid body from an upper surface of the rigid body to a lower surface of the rigid body and offset from the perimeter of the rigid body; and

placing a first content on the first set of fingers to be transported substantially parallel to the upper surface of the rigid body in the substrate processing system via the carrier.

18 . The method of claim 17 further comprising:

determining second conditions associated with second transportation in the substrate processing system;

identifying the second set of fingers corresponding to the second conditions;

attaching the second set of fingers to the rigid body of the carrier via the plurality of fasteners responsive to the first set of fingers not being attached to the rigid body; and

placing a second content on the second set of fingers to be transported in the substrate processing system via the carrier.

19 . The method of claim 17 further comprising:

determining second conditions associated with second transportation in the substrate processing system; and

adjusting, via the plurality of fasteners, location of the first set of fingers on the rigid body.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein each finger of the first set of fingers comprises:

a first upper surface disposed substantially in a first plane, wherein the first upper surface is configured to receive the first content;

a second upper surface disposed substantially in a second plane that is above the first plane; and

a sidewall disposed between the first upper surface and the second upper surface, wherein the sidewall comprises an upper portion that has about a 15 degree angle and a lower portion that has about a 5 degree angle relative to the first upper surface.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 18, 2021
From: GREEN, AARON; BERGANTZ, NICHOLAS MICHAEL; COX, DAMON K.; SCHMID, ANDREAS
To: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Reel/Frame 055642/0583 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62993528 · Mar 23, 2020
Related Publication 20210292104A1 · Sep 23, 2021
References Cited (97)
US 5445486A · Kitayama et al. · 1995 [cited by applicant]
US 5749469A · Williams · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US D407073S · Burkhart et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6109677A · Anthony · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 6199291B1 · Ozee · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6676759B1 · Takagi · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US D489739S · Okugawa · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 7048316B1 · Blank · 2006 [cited by examiner]
US D616389S · Takahashi · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7792350B2 · Kiley et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 8384033B2 · Burns et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8397739B2 · Gregor et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US D684546S · Kuzuoka · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8646765B2 · Caldarone · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 8784033B2 · Kremerman et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 9175393B1 · Higashi · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 9457464B2 · Kremerman et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9462732B2 · Robinson et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9579788B2 · Rosenberg et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9881820B2 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 9947517B1 · Luere et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10014198B2 · Richardson · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10041868B2 · Gottscho · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10062589B2 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10062590B2 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10062599B2 · Genetti et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10103010B2 · Luere et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10124492B2 · Genetti et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US D908645S · Savandaiah et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US D947802S · Sakata et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US D954769S · Green et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20030010657A1 · Zabka et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20040113444A1 · Blonigan et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050186122A1 · Mercer · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 20070134904A1 · Wan et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20080258368A1 · Kinnison · 2008 [cited by examiner]
US 20080267747A1 · DiBella et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20100194015A1 · Vekstein et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20150041353A1 · Adams et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160211165A1 · McChesney et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160211166A1 · Yan et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160216185A1 · Gottscho · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160254172A1 · Adams · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170053819A1 · Richardson · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170113355A1 · Genetti et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170115657A1 · Trussell et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170117172A1 · Genetti et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170119339A1 · Johnson et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170133283A1 · Kenworthy · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170213758A1 · Rice et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170236688A1 · Caron et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170236741A1 · Angelov et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170236743A1 · Severson et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170263478A1 · McChesney et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170287682A1 · Musselman et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170287753A1 · Musselman et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170330786A1 · Genetti et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170334074A1 · Genetti et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180019107A1 · Ishizawa · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180019142A1 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180032062A1 · Trussell et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180040492A1 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180068879A1 · Wong et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180090354A1 · Sugita et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180166259A1 · Ueda · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180218933A1 · Luere et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180233328A1 · Ueda et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180277416A1 · Takahashi et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180301322A1 · Sugita et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180315583A1 · Luere et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180315640A1 · Ueda et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190088531A1 · Sarode Vishwanath et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190252234A1 · Genetti et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200075430A1 · Sevillano et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200122320A1 · Yoshida et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200211877A1 · Raschke et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210296149A1 · Green et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
CN 107481967A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
CN 110722580A · 2020 [cited by examiner]
JP S62222624A · 1987 [cited by applicant]
JP 10165884A · 1998 [cited by applicant]
JP 2008252012A · 2008 [cited by applicant]
JP 2009095783A · 2009 [cited by applicant]
JP 2010525608A · 2010 [cited by applicant]
JP 4559317B2 · 2010 [cited by applicant]
JP 2013058569A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 20160016409A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 20170095739 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
WO WO9910135A1 · 1999 [cited by examiner]
WO 2004059724A1 · 2004 [cited by applicant]
WO 2013021645A1 · 2013 [cited by applicant]
CN 110722580—Machine Translation (Year: 2020). [cited by examiner]
WO 9910135—Machine Translation (Year: 1999). [cited by examiner]
International Seach Report and Written Opinion dated Sep. 1, 2020, for application No. PCT/US2020/033774. [cited by applicant]
Entegris F300 AutoPds, Wafer Carrier Clean, Secure wafer transport and optimum automation intergartion, https://www.entergris.com. [cited by applicant]
Entegris Spectra Foup, Front opening unified pod platform with superior microenvironment control, https:/www.entegris.com/content/dam/shared-product-assets/wafer-processing/datasheet-spectra-foup-2413.pdf, Retrieved May… [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 9, 2021, for application No. PCT/US2021/023494. [cited by applicant]