Transfer chamber with integral loadlock and staging station

Abstract

A substrate processing system includes a substrate handling chamber and an integrated load lock chamber. The load lock chamber has a gated inlet for the transfer of a substrate into and out of the load lock chamber and a gated port for transferring a substrate between the load lock chamber and the substrate handling chamber. The substrate handling chamber includes a staging shelf that is positioned above the load lock chamber and a substrate handler for moving a substrate between the load lock chamber and the staging shelf. In use, a first substrate is placed at a load lock station that is located inside the load lock chamber. The first substrate is moved from the load lock station to a staging shelf located inside the substrate handling chamber. A second substrate is moved from a cooling station in the substrate handling chamber to the load lock station. A third substrate is moved from a substrate processing chamber to the cooling station. Preferably, after the third substrate is moved to the cooling station, the first substrate is moved from the staging shelf to the processing chamber. The second substrate is removed from the load lock chamber and the cycle is repeated.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A substrate processing system comprising: 
 a substrate handling chamber;    a load lock chamber having a gated inlet for the transfer of a substrate into and out of the load lock chamber, and having a gated port for transferring a substrate between the load lock chamber and the substrate handling chamber;    a staging shelf in the handling chamber positioned above the load lock chamber; and    a first substrate handler in the substrate handling chamber for moving a substrate between the load lock chamber and the staging shelf.    
     
     
         2 . The substrate processing system of  claim 1 , comprising a rest station within the handling chamber that is accessible by the first substrate handler and a gated port adjacent the rest station for the transfer of substrates between the rest station and an adjacent process chamber.  
     
     
         3 . The substrate processing system of  claim 2 , further comprising a second substrate handler in the substrate handler chamber for moving the substrate between a position above the rest station and a position within the process chamber.  
     
     
         4 . The substrate processing system  claim 3 , wherein the first substrate handler is configured to pass the substrate to the second substrate handler at the position above the rest station.  
     
     
         5 . The substrate processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the elevation of the staging shelf is approximately the level of the position above the rest station where a substrate is passed from the first substrate handler to the second substrate handler.  
     
     
         6 . The substrate processing system  claim 1 , including a cooling station within the substrate handler chamber accessible by the substrate handler.  
     
     
         7 . The substrate processing system of  claim 6 , further comprising a rest station within the handling chamber that is accessible by the first substrate handler and a gated port adjacent the rest station for the transfer of substrates to an adjacent process chamber.  
     
     
         8 . The substrate processing system of  claim 7 , wherein the elevation in the cooling station at which a substrate is positioned is approximately the same as that of the elevation at which a substrate is positioned within the load lock chamber,  
     
     
         9 . The substrate processing system of  claim 8 , wherein the elevation of the rest station is approximately the same as the elevation of the cooling station.  
     
     
         10 . The substrate processing system of  claim 1 , in which the staging shelf is supported on an upper wall of the load lock chamber.  
     
     
         11 . The substrate processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the load lock chamber is defined by a bottom wall that mates with a recessed area formed in a bottom wall of the substrate handler chamber.  
     
     
         12 . The substrate processing system  claim 1 , wherein the substrate handling chamber comprises a housing having a bottom wall and at least one vertically extending side wall, and the bottom wall and portions of said side wall form a recess that forms an upper wall and portions of a side wall of the load lock chamber  
     
     
         13 . A method of processing semiconductor substrates comprising: 
 placing a first substrate at a load lock station that is located inside a load lock;    moving the first substrate from the load lock station to a staging shelf located inside a substrate handling chamber;    moving a second substrate from a cooling station in the substrate handling chamber to the load lock station;    moving a third substrate from a substrate processing chamber to the cooling station; and    moving the first substrate from the staging shelf to the processing chamber.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the staging shelf is located above the load lock station.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein moving the first substrate from the load lock to the staging shelf includes moving a first substrate carrier from the load lock to the staging shelf with the substrate positioned on the carrier.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein moving the third substrate from the substrate processing module to the cooling station includes removing the third substrate from the processing module with a second substrate handler and transferring the third substrate from the second substrate handler to a first substrate handler.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein transferring the third substrate from the second substrate handler to the second substrate handler occurs generally over a rest station.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein moving the third substrate from the substrate processing module to the cooling station further includes picking up a third substrate carrier from a rest station with the first substrate handler and placing the substrate on the third substrate carrier with the second substrate handler.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein moving the first substrate from the staging shelf to the processing chamber includes transferring the first substrate from a first substrate handler to a second substrate handler.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein transferring the first substrate from the first substrate handler to the second substrate handler occurs generally over the rest station.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein moving the first substrate from the staging shelf to the processing chamber further includes moving a first substrate carrier with the first substrate from the staging shelf to the rest station and placing the first substrate carrier at the rest station after the first substrate has been transferred to the second substrate handler.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising removing the third substrate from the load lock.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein moving the first substrate from the staging shelf to the processing module occurs before removing the third substrate from the load lock.  
     
     
         24 . A substrate processing system comprising a substrate handling chamber, a load lock port in a wall of the substrate handling chamber for the transfer of a substrate from a load lock chamber to the substrate handling chamber, a staging shelf, a rest station, a cooling station all within the substrate handling chamber, and a first substrate handler configured to move the substrate to and from the load lock chamber, the staging shelf, the rest station and the cooling station.  
     
     
         25 . The substrate processing system of  claim 24  further comprising three substrate carriers that are configured to support substrates, the first substrate handler being configured to move the substrate carriers between the load lock, the staging shelf, the rest station and the cooling station.  
     
     
         26 . The substrate processing system of  claim 24 , further comprising a second substrate handler within the substrate handling chamber that includes a paddle with a Bernoulli wand configured to pickup a substrate from the first substrate handler and move the substrate from the substrate handling chamber through a processing chamber port in a wall of the substrate handling chamber and into a substrate processing chamber.  
     
     
         27 . The substrate processing system of  claim 26 , further comprising three substrate carriers that are configured to support substrates, the first substrate handler being configured to move the substrate carriers between the load lock, the staging shelf, the rest station and the cooling station.  
     
     
         28 . A substrate processing system comprising a substrate handling chamber, a load lock port in a wall of the substrate handling chamber for transferring a substrate from a load lock chamber into the substrate handling chamber, a first substrate handler configured to rotate, extend and retract to move substrates to and from one or more positions within the substrate handling chamber and a second substrate handler positioned on a fixed track and including a Bernoulli for straight line movement to move a substrate into and out of a substrate processing chamber adjacent the substrate handling chamber, the first substrate handler and the second substrate handler configured such that a substrate can be positioned by the first substrate handler within the substrate handling chamber beneath the Bernoulli wand to transfer the substrate between the first substrate handler and the second substrate handler.  
     
     
         29 . The substrate processing system of  claim 28 , wherein the first substrate handler is also configured to move in a vertical direction as well as horizontal directions.  
     
     
         30 . The substrate processing system of  claim 28 , wherein the first substrate handler is configured to move a substrate carrier with a substrate positioned on the substrate carrier and the second substrate handler is arranged to lift a substrate from a substrate carrier.