WO2019096425A1

WO2019096425A1 - Substrate support for processing a substrate, vacuum processing apparatus and substrate processing system

Info

Publication number: WO2019096425A1
Application number: PCT/EP2017/079798
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Lau; Reiner Hinterschuster; Anke Hellmich
Original assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
Priority date: 2017-11-20
Filing date: 2017-11-20
Publication date: 2019-05-23
Also published as: KR102395754B1; CN111373503B; CN111373503A; KR20200078620A

Abstract

A substrate support (100) for processing a substrate (101) is described. The substrate support includes a support body (110); and a dry adhesive (120) attached to the support body providing a holding arrangement for the substrate, the support body being configured to move the substrate by an angle in a processing area (170).

Description

SUBSTRATE SUPPORT FOR PROCESSING A SUBSTRATE, VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments relate to a substrate support for vacuum processing. Embodiments of the present disclosure particularly relate to a support with a support body and a dry adhesive attached to the support body for processing a substrate, a vacuum processing apparatus including a vacuum chamber, a substrate support within the vacuum chamber and a processing station and a substrate processing system. Embodiments of the present disclosure further relate to a substrate processing system including a load chamber, a vacuum transfer chamber and a vacuum processing apparatus.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Various techniques for layer deposition on a substrate, for example thermal evaporation, chemical vapor, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) such as sputter deposition are known. The sputter deposition process can be used to deposit a material layer on the substrate, for example a layer of insulating material. This involves ejecting material from a target onto a substrate. The target material to be deposited on the substrate is bombarded with ions generated in a plasma region to dislodge atoms of the target material from a surface of the target. The dislodged atoms can form the material layer on the substrate. In a reactive sputter deposition process, the dislodged atoms can react with a gas in the plasma region, for example nitrogen or oxygen, to form an oxide, a nitride or an oxynitride of the target material on the substrate.

[0003] Coated material can be used in several applications and in several technical fields. For instance, coated material may be used in the field of microelectronics, such as for generating semiconductor devices. Also, substrates for displays can be coated using a physical vapor deposition process. Further applications include insulating panels, organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, substrates with thin film transistors (TFTs), color filters or the like.

[0004] The tendency towards larger substrates with more complex and thinner coatings results in larger process modules. Vertical process modules connected in series have some drawbacks due to the footprint, redundancy and cost issues. In the vertical process position, the glass is aligned with a mask to avoid coating on the glass edge and/or on the back side and to seal the process room from a glass handle area. Clamps hold the substrate on the edges of the substrate during the process. This leads to issues with particles and uniformity due to glass mask alignments (shadowing effect), and side deposition on the clamps.

[0005] In light of the forgoing, there is a need to provide holding arrangements for holding a substrate, process systems and methods for holding and processing a substrate that improve at least some aspects of the problems in the art.

SUMMARY

[0006] In light of the above, a substrate support for substrate processing, a vacuum processing apparatus, methods for processing a substrate and a substrate processing system are provided.

[0007] According to one embodiment, a substrate support for processing a substrate is provided. The substrate support includes a support body; and a dry adhesive attached to the support body providing a holding arrangement for the substrate, the support body being configured to move the substrate by an angle in a processing area.

[0008] According to another embodiment, a substrate support for processing a substrate is provided. The substrate support includes a support body, a dry adhesive at the support body, and an actuator moving the support body around an axis into and out of a processing area.

[0009] According to another embodiment, a vacuum processing apparatus is provided. The vacuum processing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber, a substrate support within the vacuum chamber, and a processing station. The substrate support includes a support body, a dry adhesive at the support body, and an actuator moving the support body around an axis in front of and away from the processing station.

[0010] According to a further embodiment, a substrate processing system is provided. The substrate processing system includes a load module, a vacuum transfer chamber, and a vacuum processing apparatus according to embodiments described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] So that the manner in which the above recited features can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments and are described in the following figures:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a substrate support holding a substrate and moving the substrate in a processing area;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional schematic side view of an exemplary substrate support including a dry adhesive structure;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional schematic side view of an exemplary embodiment of a substrate support including dry adhesive elements forming attachment areas;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary pattern of dry adhesive elements arranged on a surface of a support body;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic top view of a further embodiment of a support body having strip-like attachment areas;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic top view of a further embodiment having ring-shaped attachment areas;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic side view of an exemplary substrate support holding a substrate in a processing area within range of a deposition source in a non- horizontal position; a mask is arranged between the substrate and the deposition source;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic side view of an exemplary substrate support in a vacuum chamber including a positioning cylinder, the substrate being in a non vertical position;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic side view of an exemplary vacuum processing apparatus;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary substrate processing system including a hexagonal shaped transfer chamber;

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for holding and moving a substrate in and out of a processing area as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Reference will now be made in detail to the various embodiments, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the figures. Within the following description of the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same or to similar components. Generally, only the differences with respect to individual embodiments are described. Each example is provided by way of explanation and is not meant as a limitation. Furthermore, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used on or in conjunction with other embodiments to yield yet a further embodiment. It is intended that the description includes such modifications and variations.

[0013] Unless specified otherwise, the description of a part or aspect in one embodiment applies to a corresponding part or aspect in another embodiment as well.

[0014] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of an exemplary substrate support 100 being moved by an angle around an axis 160. The support body 110 having a first surface 125 and a dry adhesive 120 provided on the first surface 125. The back surface 115 of substrate 101 is attached on the dry adhesive 120. The front surface 113 of the substrate 101 is the surface to be processed, particularly on which a material layer is to be deposited. The movement of the support body 110 can be described by a rotation around a joint 140 arranged at the support body 110, wherein the joint 140 forms an axis of rotation 160. The movement of the support body 110 can also be understood as a folding up or a flap up movement. The dashed contours 111 show the support body being moved around an angle.

[0015] The substrate 101 is moved by angle 165, e.g. by a rotation about an axis 160, into a processing area 170 as depicted by the dashed contours 111. The movement of the substrate by an angle into a processing area can be described as a substantially angular displacement. In embodiments, the movement of the substrate by an angle can also have a portion of a translation motion, wherein the axis of rotation is displaced, in particular towards the processing area. With reference to FIG. 1, the support body 110 can be moved by a translation movement aligned with a horizontal direction 180 and by an angle 165 about an axis of rotation 160 towards the processing area 170. A support body configured to move the substrate by an angle can be understood as a rotatable mounted support body configured at least to rotate or swing around an axis, e.g. around a joint to change the orientation of the substrate surface being attached to the support body.

[0016] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the support body is configured to move the substrate from a non vertical position to a non-horizontal position. A non-vertical position can be understood particularly when referring to the substrate orientation, to allow for a deviation from the horizontal direction or orientation of +/- 20 °or below, e.g. +/- 10° below. Likewise, a non-horizontal position can be understood to allow for a deviation from the vertical direction or orientation of +/- 20 °or below, e.g. +/- 10° below. A deviation from a vertical position of a substrate support might result in a more stable substrate position, e.g. during a substrate processing, in particular during a layer deposition process. Furthermore, it can be beneficial to have a deviation of a horizontal position of the substrate to facilitate the transport and/or the alignment of the substrate, in particular before moving the substrate in a processing area.

[0017] In the present disclosure a substrate support for a substrate processing is provided. The substrate support includes a support body, a dry adhesive attached to the support body providing a holding arrangement for the substrate, and the support body is configured to move the substrate by an angle in a processing area.

[0018] According to embodiments, a substrate support is to be understood as a support which is configured for holding a substrate as described herein, particularly a large area substrate. Typically, the terms substrate support, carrier and support are used synonymously. The substrate held or supported by the substrate support as described herein includes a front surface and a back surface, wherein the front surface is a surface of the substrate being processed, for example the front surface is the surface on which a material layer is to be deposited. Typically, the substrate support is configured such that the back surface of the substrate can be attached to the carrier, particularly to a dry adhesive of the substrate support as descried herein.

[0019] The term substrate as used herein may be an inflexible substrate, e.g. a glass plate, a metal plate, a wafer, slices of transparent crystal, a glass substrate or a ceramic plate. However, the present enclosure is not limited thereto and the term substrate can also embrace flexible substrates such as a web or a foil, e.g. a metal foil or a plastic foil. According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the substrate can be made from any material suitable for material deposition. For instance, the substrate can be made from a material selected from the group consisting of glass, such as soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass, metal, polymer, ceramic, compound materials, carbon fiber material, mica or any other material or combination of materials capable of being coated by a deposition process. For example a thickness of the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of the substrate can be within a range from 0.1 mm to 1.8 mm, such as 0.7 mm, 0.5 mm, or 0.3 mm. In some embodiments, the thickness of the substrate may be 50 pm or more. The thickness of the substrate can also be 900 pm or less.

[0020] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate can be a large area substrate. A large area substrate may have a surface area of 0.5 m or more. Typically, a large area substrate may be used for display manufacturing and may be a glass or plastic substrate. For example, substrates as described herein shall embrace substrates used for an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), and the like. For instance, a large area substrate can have a main surface with an area of 1 m or larger. In some embodiments, a large area substrate can be GEN 4.5, which corresponds to about 0.67 m substrates (0.73m x 0.92m), GEN 5, which corresponds to about 1.4 m substrates (1.1 m x 1.3 m), or larger. A large area substrate can further be GEN 7.5, which corresponds to about 4.29 m substrates (1.95 m x 2.2 m), GEN 8.5 which corresponds to about 5.7 m substrates (2.2 m x 2.5 m), or even GEN 10, which corresponds to about 8.7 m substrates (2.85 m x 3.05 m). Even larger generations such as GEN 11 and GEN 12 and corresponding substrates areas can be similarly implemented.

[0021] According to embodiments, a support body can be understood as an arrangement configured to hold a substrate. For instance, the support body can be a rigid body, such as a frame or a plate. In particular, the support body can be configured to support a surface of a substrate, such as the back surface of a substrate.

[0022] In the present disclosure, a dry adhesive can be understood as a holding arrangement configured to provide an adhesive force for attaching a substrate described therein. In particular, the dry adhesive can be provided on or attached to the support body, such that a substrate as described therein can be held by the support body via the dry adhesive. More specifically, the dry adhesive may include a dry adhesive material as described herein. The dry adhesive material can be configured for providing the adhesive force by van der Waals force. The dry adhesive is configured to form a connection between a substrate surface and a substrate support, in particular between a substrate surface and a substrate support surface. The connection between the substrate and the dry adhesive can be slip-resistant or nonskid and the like. Advantageously; the connection between a substrate and the dry adhesive can be residue-free disconnected, for example after substrate processing, in particular after a deposition process.

[0023] With exemplary reference to FIG. 2, according to embodiments which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive 120 can attach a back surface 115 of a substrate 101 providing an adhesive force for holding the substrate 101. Typically, the back surface 115 of the substrate is not to be processed. The dry adhesive 120 can include filaments 121, in particular a plurality of filaments 121 for attaching the back surface 115 of the substrate 101 with one end. The term filament can be synonymously used with the term adhesive structure. [0024] In particular, each filament of the plurality of filaments 121 can extend away from the first surface 125 of the support body 110, for instance perpendicular to the first surface 125 of the support body 110. Accordingly, each filament of the plurality of filaments 121 can have a second end, for instance for an attachment of the substrate 101 as described herein. In particular, the second end of each filament of the plurality of filaments 121 can be configured to be attachable to the substrate 101. Specifically, the second end of each filament can be configured to adhere to the substrate 101 by van der Waals forces as described herein.

[0025] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the filaments can include or be nanotubes or carbon nanotubes. Each of the plurality of filaments can be a substantially longitudinal member. Specifically, each of the plurality of filaments can have one dimension that is larger than the remaining two dimensions. In particular, the longest dimension of the filaments can be the length of the filament. That is, the filaments can be elongated along a length direction.

[0026] According to embodiments, the dry adhesive can be a synthetic setae material. The adhesive capabilities of the dry adhesive, specifically of the synthetic setae material, can be related to the adhesive properties of a gecko foot. The adhesive capability of the gecko feet is provided by numerous hair-type extensions, called setae, on the feet of the gecko. It is noted here that the term synthetic setae material can be understood as a synthetic material emulating the natural adhesive capability of the gecko foot and including similar adhesive capabilities as the gecko foot. Moreover, the term synthetic setae material can be synonymously used with the term synthetic gecko setae material or with the term gecko tape material. For example, a support body having a gecko adhesive material may also be referred to as G-chuck. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and other dry adhesive materials suitable for holding the substrate.

[0027] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive material, for example the synthetic setae material can be inorganic. According to some embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive can be substantially 100 % inorganic. [0028] According to embodiments, which can combined with any other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive can be a gecko adhesive. For example, the gecko adhesive may be a gecko tape or a gecko element.

[0029] In the present disclosure, a gecko adhesive can be understood as an adhesive that mimics the ability of gecko feet to adhere to surfaces such as for example vertical surfaces. In particular, the dry adhesive as described herein can be configured to adhere to the substrate due to van der Waals forces between the dry adhesive and a surface of a substrate. According to embodiments, the adhesive force provided by the adhesive can be provided for holding a substrate as described herein. In particular, the dry adhesive can be configured to provide an adhesive force of about 3 N/cm or about 4 N/cm or about 5 N/cm more.

[0030] According to embodiments, the dry adhesive comprises at least one dry adhesive element, in particular a plurality of dry adhesive elements. With exemplary reference to FIG. 3 showing a schematic cross-sectional view according to embodiments, the dry adhesive 120 can include dry adhesive elements 420 arranged on a surface 125 on a substrate support 100. The dry adhesive elements 420 form, when attached to a back surface 115, an attached area 440 to hold the substrate. Providing more, in particular a plurality of, dry adhesive elements 420 may form gaps 450 between the dry adhesive elements 420, wherein other supporting elements, not shown, can be arranged on the support body. Supporting elements can, for example, include conduits for gas and/or liquids to support the substrate during processing by, for example, heating or cooling. Furthermore, within the gaps 450 supporting elements for detaching the substrate 101 from the support body 110 can be provided, wherein the supporting elements enable or facilitate the detaching process.

[0031] According to some embodiments, the dry adhesive elements can be arranged on the support body in various patterns. With reference to FIG. 4 showing a top view of a pattern of dry adhesive elements 420 arranged on a surface 125 of a support body 110, the dry adhesive elements 420 have a square shape and are periodically arranged on the surface. Gaps 450 are formed between the adhesive elements 420, wherein the gaps on the edges on the substrate support 100 form edge zones, represented by the hatched areas, without adhesive elements. The edge zones 475 can facilitate or allow for the attachment process of a substrate on the adhesive elements 420 within the attached areas 440. According to some embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, at least a part of the adhesive elements 420 can be rotatably mounted on the substrate support. For example, a rotation, particularly a rotation having an axis perpendicular to the substrate surface, may facilitate the release of the substrate from the adhesive element. In FIG. 5, a top view of a further example of a pattern of dry adhesive elements arranged on a support body is shown. The adhesive elements are forming strip-like attachment areas 445, wherein the attachment areas are aligned parallel to each other. Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 6, the strip-like attachment areas 445 can be formed in a ring-structure shape. The strip-like attachment areas 445 are arranged parallel to the edge zones of the support body.

[0032] According to embodiments, before a substrate is arranged on a support body, the substrate can be aligned with the support body. The alignment can be for example carried out by a transport frame, wherein the transport frame transports a substrate being in a horizontal position above the substrate support. A pin array can be provided to attach the substrate on the substrate support body in an aligned or centered manner. The substrate can also be aligned by simple pushers before the substrate is put on the substrate support and attached to the dry adhesive.

[0033] After alignment, the substrate can be attached on the support body 110, for example in a horizontal orientation. The support body can subsequently be positioned in a vertical direction. Due to the gravity forces upon change of orientation, a substrate may undergo sagging. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, gecko structures may be provided to allow for a combination of reduced sagging and easy release of the substrate from the gecko structures after processing.

[0034] For example, the cross-section of a gecko structure can have an elongated shape. For instance, an elongated cross-section can be of an elliptic shape having a major and a minor extension or axis. Further, an elongated cross-section can be of a quadrangular shape having a major and a minor diagonal. Moreover, an elongated cross-section can be of a rectangular shape having a major and a minor lateral length. In this context, the terms major and minor relate to the dimension of length. For example, major relates to a length longer than a minor length. Accordingly, an orientation with the longer length of the cross-section provides for stability to avoid sagging. A release of a substrate from a gecko structure can be provided by a movement in a different direction. For example, the different direction can be parallel or essentially parallel to an orientation of the shorter length of the cross-section.

[0035] According to embodiments, a dry adhesive element for holding a substrate can be provided. The dry adhesive element includes a surface configured to face the substrate, and the surface of the dry adhesive element includes a plurality of adhesive structures. The plurality of adhesive structures includes a first adhesive structure protruding from the surface, wherein the first adhesive structures has an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. For example, the plurality of adhesive structures can have an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface.

[0036] A dry adhesive element for holding a substrate can be provided. The dry adhesive element includes a surface configured to face the substrate and a dry adhesive provided over the surface and including a plurality of adhesive structures. The plurality of adhesive structures include a first adhesive structure protruding from the surface and a second adhesive structure protruding from the surface. The first adhesive structure bends differently when bent in a given direction compared to the second adhesive structure when bent in the same direction with the same force.

[0037] Accordingly, beneficially, in the present disclosure, the method for holding a substrate using a dry adhesive element as described herein substantially avoids sagging of the substrate irrespective of the mounting direction of the substrate with respect to the dry adhesive element.

[0038] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive can be configured to have a total attachment area which corresponds to at least 75 % of the back surface of the substrate. The term total attachment area can be understood as the sum of all the attachment areas. In particular, the dry adhesive can be configured to have a total attachment area which correspond to at least 80 % of the back surface of the substrate, more particularly to at least 90 % of the back surface of the substrate. [0039] FIG. 7 showing a schematic side view of a substrate support 100 holding a substrate 101 in a processing area 170 within range of a deposition source 801. The deposition source may include a rotary target 805 (or a planar target) for depositing a material 807 to a front surface 113 of the substrate 101. The substrate 101 is held in a non-horizontal position, as described herein, by a dry adhesive 120, for example by a gecko tape material. The dry adhesive 120 is attached on a back surface 115 of the substrate 101, wherein the substrate 101 can be held or fixed using the dry adhesive 120 of the substrate support 100. Holding the substrate 101 using a dry adhesive 120 attached to the back surface 115 has the advantage that no other holding arrangement is provided for holding the substrate 101, in particular no clamps or similar holding devices cover the front surface 113. In particular, the edge areas 127 of the front surface 113 of the substrate 101 can remain uncovered by clamps or the like.

[0040] According to embodiments, a mask is arranged in front of the substrate wherein the mask covers an edge area of the substrate. For instance, a mask may be an edge exclusion mask or a shadow mask or the like. An edge exclusion mask is a mask configured to mask one or more edge regions of a substrate, such that no material is deposited on the one or more edge regions of a substrate during the coating and/or processing of the substrate.

[0041] According to embodiments, as depicted in FIG. 7, a mask 130 is arranged on or at the front surface 113 of the substrate 101. The mask 130 may be arranged within a close distance 135 from the substrate 101 in front of the substrate 101 i.e. between the substrate 101 and the deposition source 801.

[0042] The distance 135 between the mask 130 and the edge areas of the substrate can be less than 2 mm, in particular less than 1,5 mm, or more particular less than lmm. The mask 130 can cover the edge areas 127 of the front surface 113 of the substrate 101. As another example, the mask can be arranged in front of the front surface 113 such that at least a portion of the mask 130 is brought into contact with the front surface 113 to reduce shadowing effects. The term direct contact can be understood such that the mask 130 touches or contacts or abuts on the substrate, in particular on the edge areas 127, wherein the distance 135 can be substantially zero. [0043] As described above, an edge exclusion, an edge exclusion mask or a mask can be located between the substrate, e.g. a glass, and the processing station, e.g. a deposition source. According to embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments, the glass-mask-distance can be reduced by the dry adhesive arrangement. The glass-mask-distance can be as small as possible since the glass edge is straight and no clamp would interfere with the edge exclusion, i.e. the masking.

[0044] According to embodiments, the substrate 101 supported by the support body 110 may be moved by an angle directly towards a mask 130 in a processing area. The mask 130 could be stationaryly fixed in the processing area to facilitate the mask arrangement. Alternatively, the support body can experience a translational movement towards the mask, e.g. after a rotation.

[0045] According to embodiments, a vacuum processing apparatus is provided including a vacuum chamber, a substrate support within the vacuum chamber, and a processing station. The substrate support includes a support body, a dry adhesive at the support body and an actuator moving the support body around an axis in front and away from the processing station. The term vacuum, as used herein, can be understood in the sense of a technical vacuum having a vacuum pressure of less than, for example, 10 mbar. Typically, the pressure in a vacuum chamber as described herein may be between

10 -5 mbar and about 10 -8 mbar, more typically between 10 -5 mbar and 10 -7 mbar, and even more typically between about 10 ⁶ mbar and about 10 ⁷ mbar.

[0046] A processing station can be understood as a processing module or a processing chamber, in particular a chamber having a vacuum atmosphere, including at least one processing device. A processing device can be understood as a device having an impact on a substrate brought near or close to the processing device, in particular within a processing area of the processing device in a vacuum atmosphere. Processing devices can include devices for deposition material on a surface of the substrate, such as devices configured for coating processes, like chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, or processing devices can include devices for etching a substrate. Depositing may be provided by sputtering devices. Processing devices can also be understood as devices for carrying out heat treatment, cooling, radiation or plasma treatment processes. Typically the distance between a processing device and a surface of the substrate being processed can be around 300 mm or less, in particular the distance can be between 240mm and 260 mm.

[0047] In the present disclosure, an actuator for moving the support body around an axis can be understood as an extendable cylinder, for example, a hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or electric driven cylinder configured to move a support body around an axis in front of the processing station. An actuator can be also be understood as a linear actuator with a rack and pinion system. An axis, in particular an axis of rotation can be configured as a pivot, a swivel, swing or a rotating joint. The axis may include an actuator, for example having a motor and a gear. The axis can be directly driven. A motor and/or a gear can be provided. An actuator can be self-driven or a rotatable mounted rod. The actuator can be fixed to the support body and/or the axis.

[0048] With exemplary reference to FIG. 11 embodiments of a method 400 for moving a support body around an axis into and out of a processing area according to the present disclosure are provided. The method 400 includes a method 401 for attaching the substrate onto a dry adhesive on a support body, moving the substrate by an angle in a processing area 402, in particular, according to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, and moving the substrate from a non-vertical position in a non-horizontal position. The method 400 includes processing the substrate 403, moving the processed substrate out of the processing area 404 and detaching the substrate from the dry adhesive of the support body 405.

[0049] With reference to FIG. 8 an example of a schematic embodiment of a substrate support 100 in a vacuum chamber is shown. A positioning cylinder 150 and a joint 140 is provided on a lower surface 114 of the support body 110. The support body 110 is moved by the positioning cylinder 150 pushing the support body 110 by extending. The support body 110 is mounted to the joint 140. When the positioning cylinder 150 extends the support body 110 moves from a non-vertical position into a non-horizontal position. The movement of the support body can be described as a flip-movement, a swing movement or the like around the joint 140 may form an axis of rotation 160. A dry adhesive 120 arranged on the support body 110 is attached to the substrate 101 and prevents a slipping of or a drop off of the substrate 101 in the non-horizontal position by Van der Waals forces. The substrate 101, in particular the front surface 113 of the substrate 101 can be processed in the non-horizontal position by the deposition source 801. After processing the substrate 101, the positioning cylinder 150 is retracted wherein the support body 110 is moved away from a processing area of a deposition source to the starting position. The starting position can be understood as a position of the substrate being in the non-vertical position, wherein the substrate is not processed.

[0050] According to embodiments, the procedure of moving a substrate in front of a processing station and away from the processing station can be repeated more than once. Using the dry adhesive for attaching the substrate on the support body and holding the substrate during processing enables repetition of the procedure of moving the substrate in front of and away from a processing station with no need for cleaning or removing deposits of any other holding structures for the substrate.

[0051] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described therein, the support body 110 can include a support base 145 provided at a lower surface 114 of the support body 110. The support base 145 can be arranged movably or displaceably on a bottom surface, for example on a bottom surface of a vacuum chamber. The support base 145 of the support body 110 can for example be provided with rollers or runners or the like sliding on the bottom surface for enabling the support body 110 moving in a lateral direction away or towards a processing region, in particular away or towards a processing station. The lateral movement of the support body can be carried out additionally to the movement of the support body by an angle as describe therein.

[0052] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the vacuum processing apparatus can be formed by connecting a vacuum chamber and a processing station with each other. The interiors of the vacuum chamber and the processing station can be formed to one combined interior having the same vacuum atmosphere.

[0053] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary vacuum processing apparatus 550 including a vacuum chamber 570 and a processing station 555. The vacuum chamber 570 can be provided with stands 525. The vacuum chamber can include or can be connected to a processing station 555. The processing station 555 can be provided with support pillars 545.

[0054] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the substrate processing system 600 can include a vacuum transfer chamber 610 wherein more than one, in particular a plurality of, vacuum processing apparatuses 550A, 550B, 550C are arranged adjacent to the vacuum transfer chamber 610. A substrate 101 is transferred to the vacuum transfer chamber 610 e.g. through a load chamber 510. The vacuum transfer chamber 610 can move the substrate 101 to a first vacuum chamber 570A.

[0055] The substrate 101 can be arranged or attached on the support body 110 by the dry adhesive 120 of the substrate support 100 in the first vacuum chamber 570A. The substrate support 100 moves the substrate 101 by an angle from a non- vertical position to a non-horizontal position in a processing area of the processing station 555A in front of a mask (not show) as described therein. After the processing of the substrate 101 in the processing area of the processing station 555A, the substrate is moved out of the processing area in a non-vertical position into the vacuum chamber 570A. The substrate 101 is moved out of the vacuum chamber 570A back to the vacuum transfer chamber 610. After obtaining the substrate 101 from the vacuum chamber 570A the vacuum transfer chamber 610 can move the substrate 101 to a further vacuum processing apparatus 550B or 550C or 550D including further processing stations 555B, 555C 555D respectively.

[0056] According to embodiments, the movement of the substrate 101 from a vacuum chamber 570A to a further vacuum chamber 570B, 570C, 570D can be understood as a lateral movement of the substrate 101, wherein the substrate 101 is moved while being in a non- vertical position. The vacuum transfer chamber 610 can be configured to rotate the substrate 101 e.g. to enable an alignment of the substrate 101 before moving the substrate 101 to a process chamber. The substrate 101 can be moved by the vacuum transfer chamber 610 to any other vacuum chamber 570 A, 570B, 570C arranged on the vacuum transfer chamber 610 in an undetermined sequence. [0057] According to embodiments, a processing system can be provided. A processing system includes a load module, a transfer chamber and a vacuum processing apparatus. A processing system can include more than one load module, transfer chamber or vacuum processing apparatus.

[0058] A load module can be understood as a module capable for an intake or an acceptance of a substrate. The load module can be a chamber with an opening at one side being configured to receive a substrate. The load module can be connected to a transporting device being configured to transport a substrate to the load module. For example, a load module can be understood as an air lock for transferring a substrate to a chamber with low pressure, in particular to a chamber with vacuum pressure. According to embodiments, the load module is connected to a vacuum transfer chamber.

[0059] A vacuum transfer chamber can be understood as a chamber with vacuum pressure connected to other substrate processing modules, chambers or devices. The vacuum transfer chamber can be configured to move a substrate to other modules or devices connected to the vacuum transfer chamber for further substrate processing.

[0060] According to embodiments, more than one vacuum processing apparatus is arranged at the vacuum transfer chamber, in particular at the outer wall of the vacuum transfer chamber. The vacuum transfer chamber can form a transporting path configuration between the vacuum processing apparatuses.

[0061] The vacuum transfer chamber can be understood as a transporting path configuration, wherein several substrate processing modules, like process apparatuses, are arranged at the lateral areas of the transporting path configuration. Each substrate processing module or substrate processing system can be connected to the transporting path configuration for example by an opening or by an air-lock.

[0062] According to embodiments, the substrate processing system can include more than one substrate process apparatus arranged next to each other. In a first process apparatus an actuator moves a substrate support body around an axis into a processing area of a processing station as described herein. For further processing, the substrate can be moved to further processing apparatuses wherein the substrate is moved in a non vertical position from one process apparatus to another process apparatus. [0063] According to embodiments, the vacuum transfer chamber can have a polygon shaped or a circular design. A polygon-design can for example include a Triangulum shaped, a square- shaped, a pentagon- shaped or hexagon shaped design. A vacuum process chamber can be arranged on one edge or on more edges or on each edge of the polygon-shaped designs of the vacuum transfer chamber. When more than one vacuum process chamber is provided, the vacuum transfer chamber can be arranged in the middle or in the center of the vacuum process chambers. The arrangement of the vacuum transfer chamber in the center or in the middle of the vacuum transfer chamber enables a cluster-like design of a substrate processing system. More than one vacuum process chamber can be arranged on the vacuum transfer chamber, wherein each chamber has the same distance from a center point of the vacuum transfer chamber. It is further possible to arrange storage modules for substrates or any other substrate support modules at one or more edges of the polygon-shaped design vacuum transfer chamber.

[0064] According to embodiments, it is possible to connect two or more cluster-like substrate processing systems as described herein and enable substrate transporting and further substrate processing between the two or more substrate processing systems.

[0065] According to embodiments, the vacuum transfer chamber is configured to transfer the substrate being attached to the substrate support to the vacuum processing apparatus. The substrate being attached can be understood as the substrate is kept attached and/or is held by the dry adhesive on the substrate support while transported within the vacuum transport chamber. The movement of the substrate support can be understood as a displacement in a horizontal direction. The displacement can be carried out by a guiding system with rollers or the like. Keeping the substrate attached to the support body has the advantage that further attaching and detaching operations of the substrate with the dry adhesive of the support body can be avoid when the substrate enter a vacuum process chamber and/or enter the vacuum transfer chamber again after processing. Keeping the substrate attached to the support body can also accelerate the substrate processing process.

[0066] The present disclosure has several advantages including providing a substrate support for holding a substrate on the back surface with no need for other holding arrangements affecting the front or lateral surfaces of the substrate. The substrate support described herein enables a substrate processing in a non-horizontal position with no side deposition or other holding arrangements reaching around the glass edge. Due to the dry adhesive structures described herein sagging can be avoided. Embodiments of the vacuum processing system described herein enable a non-vertical substrate processing and a space-saving design with a small footprint.

[0067] While the foregoing is directed to some embodiments, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope, and the scope is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A substrate support for processing a substrate; comprising: a support body; and a dry adhesive attached to the support body providing a holding arrangement for the substrate, the support body being configured to move the substrate by an angle in a processing area.

2. The substrate support for substrate processing according to claim 1, wherein the support body is configured to move the substrate between a non-vertical position and a non horizontal position.

3. A substrate support for processing a substrate, comprising: a support body; a dry adhesive at the support body; and an actuator moving the support body around an axis into and out of a processing area.

4. The substrate support according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the dry adhesive comprises a plurality of adhesive structures, the adhesive structures forming one or more attachment areas on the support body.

5. The substrate support according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of adhesive structures comprises a first adhesive structure having a first elongated cross-section having a first orientation and a second adhesive structure having a second elongated cross section having a second orientation different from the first orientation.

6. The substrate support according to claim 5, wherein the first adhesive structure provided in a first attachment area and the second adhesive structure provided in a second attachment area, the first and the second attachment area forming a pattern on the substrate support.

7. The substrate support according any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the dry adhesive comprises a Gecko adhesive.

8. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a vacuum chamber; a substrate support within the vacuum chamber; and a processing station, the substrate support comprising: a support body; a dry adhesive at the support body; and an actuator moving the support body around an axis in front of and away from the processing station.

9. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a mask is provided between the substrate support and the processing station.

10. The vacuum processing apparatus according to the claims 8 or 9, wherein a mask is arranged in front of a substrate, the mask covering an edge area of the substrate.

11. A substrate processing system, comprising: a load module; a vacuum transfer chamber; and a vacuum processing apparatus according to any of claims 8 to 10.

12. The substrate processing system according to claim 11, wherein more than one vacuum processing apparatus is arranged at the vacuum transfer chamber.

13. The substrate processing system according to claim 12, wherein a distance between a processing station of a first process apparatus to the vacuum transfer chamber is equal to a distance between a processing station of a second processing apparatus.

14. The substrate processing system according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the vacuum transfer chamber has a polygon or a circular shape.

15. The substrate processing system according to any of claims 11 or 14, wherein the vacuum transfer chamber is configured to transfer the substrate being attached to the support body to the vacuum processing apparatus.