US20060207680A1 - Device manufacturing apparatus and method of controlling same - Google Patents

Device manufacturing apparatus and method of controlling same Download PDF

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Publication number
US20060207680A1
US20060207680A1 US11/376,240 US37624006A US2006207680A1 US 20060207680 A1 US20060207680 A1 US 20060207680A1 US 37624006 A US37624006 A US 37624006A US 2006207680 A1 US2006207680 A1 US 2006207680A1
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Prior art keywords
load
chamber
atmosphere
lock chamber
lock
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Abandoned
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US11/376,240
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English (en)
Inventor
Yuichi Takamura
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Canon Inc
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Canon Inc
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Assigned to CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA reassignment CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: TAKAMURA, YUICHI
Publication of US20060207680A1 publication Critical patent/US20060207680A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H10P72/00—Handling or holding of wafers, substrates or devices during manufacture or treatment thereof
    • H10P72/04—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H10P72/0451—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
    • H10P72/0466—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterised by the construction of the load-lock chamber

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a technique for manufacturing devices such as semiconductor elements. More particularly, the invention relates to an atmosphere adjusting technique for transferring an article between the interior and exterior of a device manufacturing apparatus.
  • a relay-like process chamber such as a load-lock chamber for changing over the environment.
  • a relay-like process chamber such as a load-lock chamber for changing over the environment.
  • a substance of some kind between an exposure source and an article to be exposed in a EUV exposure apparatus or a direct-writing exposure apparatus that writes directly using an electron beam or the like this will have an effect upon the optical path of the exposing light or exposing beam and accurate exposure will no longer be possible. For this reason, it is necessary that the optical path of the exposing light or exposing beam and the space in which the wafer stage exists within the apparatus be held in a state of high vacuum.
  • a load-lock chamber is used in order to make the process environment such as pressure or gaseous component outside the apparatus conform to that of the process section inside the apparatus.
  • the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4 has one such load-lock chamber 10 .
  • the load-lock chamber 10 has two gates, namely an outer gate 9 and an inner gate 11 , capable of cutting off the interior of the apparatus from the outside.
  • the two gates 9 and 11 are closed and the environment in the load-lock chamber 10 is adjusted so as to be approximately the same as that in the apparatus interior 15 by a pressure regulating mechanism 13 .
  • the inner gate 11 is then opened, the processed article inside the apparatus is extracted and placed inside the load-lock chamber 10 and the inner gate 11 is closed again.
  • the outer gate 9 is opened and the processed article Is transferred to the exterior of the apparatus.
  • an article is transported into the interior of the apparatus, it will suffice to reverse the above-described operation.
  • Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-150395 proposes an arrangement in which a plurality of load-lock chambers are provided between the external environment of an apparatus under atmospheric pressure and a vacuum process chamber, thereby allowing processing to be performed in parallel. If this arrangement is adopted, parallel operation in evacuation and exhaust processes can be performed. This makes it possible to shorten waiting time for the purpose of making the interior and exterior environments agree.
  • the present invention has been devised in view of the background set forth above and an exemplary object thereof is to provide a novel technique relating to transfer of an article between the interior and exterior of a device manufacturing apparatus.
  • an apparatus for processing an article in order to manufacture a device comprising: a process chamber in which the article is processed; a relay chamber; a first load-lock chamber disposed between an outside of the apparatus and the relay chamber; a second load-lock chamber disposed between the relay chamber and the process chamber; a first adjusting mechanism configured to adjust atmosphere in the process chamber to a first atmosphere; and a second adjusting mechanism configured to adjust atmosphere in the relay chamber to a second atmosphere that is an intermediate atmosphere between the first atmosphere and atmosphere of the outside.
  • a method applied to an apparatus for processing an article in order to manufacture a device the article being transferred from an outside of the apparatus into a process chamber where the article is processed, the method comprising steps of: adjusting atmosphere in the process chamber to a first atmosphere; adjusting atmosphere in a relay chamber, which is disposed between the process chamber and the outside, to a second atmosphere that is an intermediate atmosphere between the first atmosphere and atmosphere of the outside; transferring the article from the outside into the relay chamber via a first load-lock chamber; and transferring the article from the relay chamber into the process chamber via a second load-lock chamber.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment according to a first embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment constituting a vacuum exposure apparatus according to the prior art
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart useful in describing an operation for transferring a wafer by a controller.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart useful in describing an operation for transferring a wafer by a controller.
  • FIG. 1 First, reference will be had to FIG. 1 to describe embodiments in a case where the present invention is applied to an exposure apparatus.
  • an environment adjusting mechanism is provided between a process section (process chamber 15 ), which is located in an exposure apparatus, and the environment in which the apparatus is installed.
  • the environment adjusting mechanism has a plurality of load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b , 10 arranged in parallel and in series, and a transfer mechanism 6 constituted by a transfer robot or the like for transferring an article such as a wafer.
  • the environment adjusting mechanism further includes regulating mechanisms 5 a , 5 b , 8 , 13 , 14 that are capable of individually controlling the environment in all of the sealable spaces from the exterior to the interior of the apparatus.
  • the regulating mechanisms 5 a , 5 b , 8 , 13 , 14 use pressure regulating valves and vacuum pumps to make possible individual control of regulated pressure in each chamber (relay chamber 7 and process chamber 15 ) and in each load-lock chamber.
  • the load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b arranged in parallel are provided for the purpose of performing parallel processing in order to shorten the time needed for adjusting environment.
  • the load-lock chamber 10 is disposed in series with the load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b .
  • the load-lock chamber 10 does not perform an adjustment of environment from the installation environment outside the apparatus to the wafer process environment (the environment inside the process chamber 15 ) in one stroke as is done conventionally. Rather, the load-lock chamber 10 is provided for the purpose of reducing waiting time for environmental adjustment via the relay chamber 7 , which is in an intermediate state. Adopting such an arrangement improves the throughput of the apparatus.
  • An appropriate pressure value for preventing the attachment of dust differs depending upon the estimated size of the dust particles. That is, pressure at which the falling of dust under the force of gravity and the floating of dust due to Brownian movement are substantially in competition differs depending upon the size of the dust particles. Specifically, it is known that this pressure is 10 ⁇ 2 pa in case of dust particles of size 10 nm, 10 pa in case of dust particles of size 50 nm, and 100 pa in case of a dust particles of size 0.1 ⁇ m. Further, when dust becomes electrically charged, it attaches itself to the wafer owing to the force of static electricity. This makes it necessary to perform de-electrification by a vacuum ionizer. Dust having a size of less than 50 nm usually is the object of de-electrification, although this will depend upon the specifications of the de-electrification apparatus.
  • the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b for accepting an article such as a wafer are evacuated slowly from atmospheric pressure down to about 100 pa, then evacuation is performed at high speed on the side of pressure below this level.
  • the relay chamber 7 for transferring the wafer from the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b to the load-lock chamber 10 of the process section (herein after referred to as the process-section load-lock chamber 10 )
  • the pressure here be made less than 10 pa in consideration of the fact that dust particles that have been de-electrified by a vacuum ionizer (not shown) are the object of interest.
  • the pressure in the interior of the relay chamber 7 should at least be less than 100 pa, which is a pressure at which high-speed evacuation is possible. Further, with regard to the pressure of the process-section load-lock chamber 10 through which the article is introduced into the interior of the apparatus, the pressure varies from a pressure identical with that inside the relay chamber 7 to the pressure of the process section inside the apparatus (namely the pressure inside the process chamber 15 ).
  • the embodiments thus provide a space in which the environment is adjusted in multiple stages and a plurality of load-lock chambers for accepting an article between stages. This arrangement makes it possible for the adjustment of environment in each load-lock chamber to be completed in a short period of time.
  • an environment adjusting mechanism constituted by an environment adjusting space of a plurality of stages and a plurality of load-lock chambers connected thereto is effective for reasons similar to those for regulating the pressure environment. More specifically, a gas exchange can be performed at high speed by injecting nitrogen gas into the article entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b after evacuation without raising dust particles in a manner similar to that of a vacuum apparatus. Further, by providing the relay chamber 7 having the intermediate environment from the article entry point to the process section inside the apparatus, the environment such as the nitrogen gas concentration or amount of water content can be made to approximate the state of the process section in stages in a manner similar to that of the pressure adjustment. Various embodiments will be described next.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a vacuum exposure apparatus for performing exposure treatment in an ultra-high vacuum, examples of the apparatus being an EUV exposure apparatus and a direct-writing exposure apparatus that uses an electron beam. Further, the vacuum exposure apparatus of FIG. 1 assumes a mass-production apparatus in which a multiplicity of wafers are processed.
  • the entry load-lock chamber 2 a ( 2 b ) is provided with an outer gate 1 a ( 1 b ) and an inner gate 3 a ( 3 b ).
  • the interior of the load-lock chamber can be made a sealed space by closing both gates. If the outer gate 1 a ( 1 b ) is opened, the load-lock chamber is communicated with the exterior of the apparatus, and if the inner gate 3 a ( 3 b ) is opened, the load-lock chamber is communicated with the relay chamber 7 .
  • the process-section load-lock chamber 10 is provided in order to carry the wafer into the interior of the apparatus (into process chamber 15 ).
  • the process-section load-lock chamber 10 also is provided with an outer gate 9 and an inner gate 11 .
  • the interior of this load-lock chamber can be made a sealed space by closing both gates. If the outer gate 9 is opened, the load-lock chamber is communicated with the relay chamber 7 , and if the inner gate 11 is opened, the load-lock chamber is communicated with the process chamber 15 .
  • a transfer mechanism 6 transfers the article such as a wafer from the entry load-lock chamber 2 a or entry load-lock chamber 2 b to the process-section load-lock chamber 10 and includes a transfer robot or the like.
  • the relay chamber 7 encloses the transfer mechanism 6 and is regulated so as to have a pressure between atmospheric pressure outside the apparatus and the pressure inside the process chamber 15 .
  • pressure regulating mechanisms 5 a , 5 b , 8 , 13 and 14 are capable of individually regulating the pressures within the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b , relay chamber 7 , process-section load-lock chamber 10 and process chamber 15 , respectively.
  • a controller 101 controls the opening and closing of the gates of the load-lock chambers, the pressure regulating mechanisms and the transfer mechanism, etc.
  • FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts useful in describing operation performed by the controller 101 .
  • the entry load-lock chamber 2 a is regulated in such a manner that its pressure will become substantially identical with the pressure outside the apparatus.
  • the outer gate 1 a thereof is then opened. That is, with the outer gate 1 a and inner gate 3 a in the closed state, the pressure inside the entry load-lock chamber 2 a is equalized with the pressure outside and the outer gate 1 a is then opened (steps S 101 , S 102 , S 103 ).
  • a plurality of wafers introduced to a wafer carrier 4 a in advance are carried into the entry load-lock chamber 2 a .
  • the outer gate 1 a of the entry load-lock chamber 2 a has already been opened by the controller 101 and the inner gate 3 a has already been closed by the controller, as set forth above.
  • the placement of the wafer carrier 4 a in the entry load-lock chamber 2 a may be performed manually or automatically by a transfer robot or the like. If completion of placement of the wafer carrier 4 a is detected, the controller 101 closes the outer gate 1 a (steps S 104 , S 105 ) and the entry load-lock chamber 2 a starts to be depressurized by the corresponding pressure regulating mechanism 5 a (step S 106 ).
  • the pressure in the load-lock chamber 2 a is lowered gradually from atmospheric pressure to 100 pa, and depressurization is then performed at high speed once the pressure has fallen below 100 pa, as mentioned above.
  • Depressurization is performed until the pressure becomes substantially equal to the pressure inside the relay chamber 7 .
  • the controller 101 opens the inner gate 3 a of the entry load-lock chamber 2 a (steps S 107 , S 108 ). It is preferred that the pressure in the relay chamber 7 be on the order of 10 pa, as mentioned above. This is followed by transferring wafers in the wafer carrier 4 a to the process-section load-lock chamber 10 by the transfer mechanism 6 such as a vacuum robot (step S 110 ).
  • steps S 101 to S 108 transfers a plurality of wafers as a unit to the entry load-lock chamber 2 a by means of the wafer carrier 4 a , the processing need be executed only one time for these plurality of wafers.
  • the pressure within this chamber is made the same as that (less than 10 pa) in the relay chamber 7 by the corresponding pressure regulating mechanism 13 with the outer gate 9 and inner gate 11 being in the closed state, after which the outer gate 9 is opened (steps S 121 , S 122 , S 123 ). That is, it is assumed that at least at the time of execution of step S 110 , the process-section load-lock chamber 10 will have been regulated to a prescribed pressure by the pressure regulating mechanism 13 and that the outer gate 9 of on the side of the transfer mechanism 6 will have been opened.
  • the controller 101 closes the outer gate 9 (step S 125 ).
  • the interior of the process-section load-lock chamber 10 is depressurized until its pressure becomes equal to that of the process chamber 15 [ultra-high vacuum pressure (i.e., less than 10 ⁇ 5 pa)] (steps S 126 , S 127 ).
  • the inner gate 11 is then opened (step S 128 ). Under these conditions the wafers are transferred to the process chamber 15 by a transfer mechanism (not shown) within the process chamber 15 (step S 130 ).
  • the pressure inside the process chamber 15 in the main body of the exposure apparatus be less than ultra-high vacuum pressure (less than 10 ⁇ 5 pa)
  • ultra-high vacuum pressure less than 10 ⁇ 5 pa
  • a further load-lock chamber capable of local evacuation will be added.
  • the above-mentioned set pressure value is decided comprehensively taking into account exposure process time, evacuation time and number of wafer accepting ports.
  • the pressure in the relay chamber 7 for wafer transfer is desirably 10 pa, there are cases where this pressure will be 100 pa depending upon apparatus conditions.
  • two entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b are meant to allow evacuation to be performed in parallel.
  • the number of these load-lock chambers is not limited to two and may be three or more. Further, it is also possible to construct an apparatus having a single entry load-lock chamber.
  • the pressure within the process-section load-lock chamber 10 is made equal to that inside the process chamber 15 , after which the inner gate 11 is opened (steps S 201 to S 203 ). Then, after wafers are placed inside the process-section load-lock chamber 10 by a transfer mechanism (not shown), the inner gate 11 is closed (steps S 204 , S 205 ). This is followed by elevating the pressure in process-section load-lock chamber 10 until it becomes equal to the pressure in the relay chamber 7 . The outer gate 9 is opened after the pressures are equalized (steps S 206 to S 208 ). The transfer mechanism 6 is then driven to extract the wafers from the load-lock chamber 10 and place them in the relay chamber 7 (step S 210 ).
  • the controller 101 closes the inner gate 3 a and outer gate 1 a of the entry load-lock chamber 2 a and regulates the pressure inside this load-lock chamber until it becomes equal to the pressure inside the relay chamber 7 , after which the controller 101 closes the inner gate 3 a (steps S 211 to S 213 ).
  • the transfer mechanism 6 transfers the wafers, which have been extracted from the process-section load-lock chamber 10 , to the interior of the entry load-lock chamber 2 a and places the wafers on the wafer carrier 4 a.
  • the controller 101 closes the inner gate 3 a , causes the pressure in this chamber to rise until it becomes equal to atmospheric pressure outside the apparatus and thenceforth opens the outer gate 1 a (steps S 214 to S 218 ). This is followed by transferring the wafers from the entry load-lock chamber 2 a by a transfer mechanism (not shown) or manually (step S 220 ). The wafers can be extracted to the exterior of the apparatus by the above-described processing.
  • the entry load-lock chamber 2 a enables a plurality of wafers to be brought in and taken out in one batch by the wafer carrier 4 a , the processing of steps S 215 to S 218 need only be executed one time per plurality of wafers.
  • this embodiment is such that evacuation is performed by lowering the pressure in the relay chamber 7 , which is a pressure sufficiently lower than atmospheric pressure. Consequently, the total amount of air exhausted is much less in comparison with the conventional method (where evacuation starts from atmospheric pressure) and, as a result, the time needed to attain the target pressure can be shortened.
  • the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b are evacuated only down to the pressure in the relay chamber 7 , and not down to the region of ultra-high vacuum, from atmospheric pressure. This makes it possible to shorten process time. That is, the advantage of placing a plurality of wafers in vacuum simultaneously by the wafer carrier 4 a can be exploited.
  • the relay chamber 7 that has been set to a pressure (on the order of 10 pa) sufficiently lower than atmospheric pressure is provided between the entry load-lock chamber 2 a and the process-section load-lock chamber 10 .
  • a pressure on the order of 10 pa
  • the total amount of air exhausted from the process-section load-lock chamber 10 can be reduced in comparison with a case where vacuum is produced starting from atmospheric pressure.
  • volume and surface area can be reduced by introducing wafers from the relay chamber 7 to the process-section load-lock chamber 10 one at a time, processing is speeded up in the process-section load-lock chamber 10 where evacuation to ultra-high vacuum pressure is required.
  • the wafer carrier 4 a is used to carry wafers into the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b that do not need to be evacuated to the region of ultra-high vacuum, amount of air exhausted per wafer can be reduced. Furthermore, by providing a plurality of entry ports and performing processing in parallel, the time needed to evacuate the entry load-lock chambers 2 a , 2 b can be reduced as well.
  • processing time needed to adjust the environment can be shortened in comparison with the prior-art methods.
  • the embodiment is particularly effective in cases where a plurality of wafers are processed simultaneously.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • the arrangement using the wafer carrier 4 a as described in the first embodiment is very effective in cases where a number of wafers are processed simultaneously. In a case where the number of wafers processed is small, however, there is the concern that process time will be lengthened rather than shortened owing to the large volume of air that must be exhausted in the entry load-lock chamber 2 a.
  • an entry load-lock chamber 2 c that is capable of introducing wafers one at a time is provided taking the above-mentioned case into consideration. Adopting such an arrangement makes it possible to offset the drawback of increased amount of air exhaust mentioned above.
  • the second embodiment provides the load-lock chamber 2 c , which makes it possible to mount wafers one at a time, besides using a wafer carrier to supply wafers.
  • This is one exemplary variation of a method of supplying wafers. This arrangement is effective in a case where small lots of wafers are processed.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
  • the third embodiment provides a gas control mechanism in addition to a pressure control mechanism, thereby similarly raising throughput even in an environment other than a vacuum environment.
  • gas regulating mechanisms 16 to 20 are provided in addition to pressure regulating mechanisms similar to those of the first embodiment.
  • the gas regulating mechanisms 16 to 20 each comprise a mechanism (e.g., a mass-flow controller) for injecting a high-purity specific gas such as nitrogen gas, and a drier for removing water content. These control each chamber and load-lock chamber individually.
  • the gas regulating mechanisms 16 to 20 are installed for the purpose of regulating the respectively connected sealable spaces to desired gas components.
  • adjustment time can be shortened more by relying upon the intermediary of the relay chamber 7 , as described in the pressure adjustment of the first and second embodiments, than by performing adjustment at one stroke from the installation environment external to the apparatus. That is, for reasons similar to those for adjusting the pressure environment, an environment adjusting mechanism composed of a plurality of load-lock chambers is useful also when preparing an environment for filling a space with a specific gas such as nitrogen gas at a high concentration.
  • providing a plurality of ports for acceptance of wafers from atmospheric pressure makes it possible to execute depressurization of the entry load-lock chambers, which are provided at the acceptance ports, simultaneously and in parallel. As a result, effective depressurization time can be shortened and an improvement in throughput achieved.
  • process time needed for the environmental adjustment can be reduced and throughput raised by providing an environment adjusting mechanism comprising a plurality of load-lock chambers and passing wafers through an intermediate environment.
  • processing at a speed higher than that with the conventional method becomes possible by providing a plurality of entry load-lock chambers in parallel, placing the entry load-lock chambers in series with a load-lock chamber of a process section, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , and establishing an appropriate environment in each of the chambers. Further, depressurization of a plurality of wafers is performed at one time using a wafer carrier or the like and relying upon the intermediary of a plurality of entry load-lock chambers, and the wafers are carried into interior of the apparatus one at a time. The result is greatly improved throughput.
  • a plurality of wafers can be carried in and out at one time using a wafer carrier.
  • the invention is similarly effective also with regard to an apparatus that requires filling with a specific gas such as nitrogen gas at a high concentration. Accordingly, when a gas exchange is performed in a case where an apparatus is filled with a specific gas such as nitrogen gas at a high concentration, it is preferred that the speed at which the load-lock chambers are evacuated or at which they are filled with gas be controlled appropriately in accordance with the pressure inside the load-lock chambers. Further, although each of the embodiments indicates an arrangement in which a plurality of entry load-lock chambers and a single process-section load-lock chamber 10 are provided, a plurality of the process-section load-lock chambers 10 may be provided.
  • the introduction and extraction of an article to and from an apparatus can be performed at high speed and the throughput of the apparatus can be raised in a case where the environment inside the apparatus differs greatly from the environment outside the apparatus.

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  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
  • Electron Beam Exposure (AREA)
  • Exposure Of Semiconductors, Excluding Electron Or Ion Beam Exposure (AREA)
  • Exposure And Positioning Against Photoresist Photosensitive Materials (AREA)
US11/376,240 2005-03-18 2006-03-16 Device manufacturing apparatus and method of controlling same Abandoned US20060207680A1 (en)

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US20120237323A1 (en) * 2011-03-16 2012-09-20 Tokyo Electron Limited Lid opening and closing device
US20180114710A1 (en) * 2016-10-25 2018-04-26 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Equipment front end module and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including the same
US10388547B2 (en) * 2017-06-23 2019-08-20 Applied Materials, Inc. Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for processing substrates
US11171028B2 (en) 2017-06-23 2021-11-09 Applied Materials, Inc. Indexable side storage pod apparatus, heated side storage pod apparatus, systems, and methods
US20240186158A1 (en) * 2022-12-01 2024-06-06 Tokyo Electron Limited Transfer module and transfer method

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JP4963678B2 (ja) * 2007-04-06 2012-06-27 キヤノン株式会社 雰囲気置換方法
JP2011091160A (ja) * 2009-10-21 2011-05-06 Ulvac Japan Ltd 基板搬送装置及び基板処理装置
JP5597433B2 (ja) * 2010-04-16 2014-10-01 株式会社日立ハイテクノロジーズ 真空処理装置

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US20030098125A1 (en) * 2001-11-29 2003-05-29 Jae-Hyuck An Method of and apparatus for performing sequential processes requiring different amounts of time in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices

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US20020170671A1 (en) * 2001-05-21 2002-11-21 Minoru Matsushita Processing apparatus, transferring apparatus and transferring method
US20030022487A1 (en) * 2001-07-25 2003-01-30 Applied Materials, Inc. Barrier formation using novel sputter-deposition method
US20030098125A1 (en) * 2001-11-29 2003-05-29 Jae-Hyuck An Method of and apparatus for performing sequential processes requiring different amounts of time in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices

Cited By (12)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20120237323A1 (en) * 2011-03-16 2012-09-20 Tokyo Electron Limited Lid opening and closing device
US8936050B2 (en) * 2011-03-16 2015-01-20 Tokyo Electron Limited Lid opening and closing device
US20180114710A1 (en) * 2016-10-25 2018-04-26 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Equipment front end module and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including the same
US10388547B2 (en) * 2017-06-23 2019-08-20 Applied Materials, Inc. Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for processing substrates
US20190267266A1 (en) * 2017-06-23 2019-08-29 Applied Materials, Inc. Multi-blade robot apparatus, electronic device manufacturing apparatus, and methods adapted to transport multiple substrates in electronic device manufacturing
US10847390B2 (en) * 2017-06-23 2020-11-24 Applied Materials, Inc. Multi-blade robot apparatus, electronic device manufacturing apparatus, and methods adapted to transport multiple substrates in electronic device manufacturing
US11171028B2 (en) 2017-06-23 2021-11-09 Applied Materials, Inc. Indexable side storage pod apparatus, heated side storage pod apparatus, systems, and methods
US11621182B2 (en) 2017-06-23 2023-04-04 Applied Materials, Inc. Multi-blade robot apparatus, electronic device manufacturing apparatus, and methods adapted to transport multiple substrates in electronic device manufacturing
US20230207354A1 (en) * 2017-06-23 2023-06-29 Applied Materials, Inc. Multi-blade robot apparatus, electronic device manufacturing apparatus, and methods adapted to transport multiple substrates in electronic device manufacturing
US11823933B2 (en) 2017-06-23 2023-11-21 Applied Materials, Inc. Indexable side storage pod apparatus, heated side storage pod apparatus, systems, and methods
US12142500B2 (en) * 2017-06-23 2024-11-12 Applied Materials, Inc. Side storage pods, equipment front end modules, and methods for processing substrates
US20240186158A1 (en) * 2022-12-01 2024-06-06 Tokyo Electron Limited Transfer module and transfer method

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