LOAD LOCK SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING SUBSTRATES IN A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM

摘要

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for transferring substrates into and from a vacuum chamber in a lithography apparatus. The load lock system comprises: a load lock chamber provided with an opening for allowing passage of a substrate in and out of the load lock chamber, and a transfer apparatus comprising a sub-frame at least partially arranged in the load lock chamber, an arm which is, with a proximal end thereof, connected to the sub-frame, and a substrate receiving unit which is connected to a distal end of the arm. The arm comprises at least three hinging arm parts, wherein a first and a second arm part are hingedly connected to the sub-frame with a proximal end thereof. A third arm part is hingedly connected to the distal ends of the first and second arm parts. The arm parts are arranged to form a four-bar linkage.

主权项

1. A load lock system for transferring a substrate into and out of a lithography system, the load lock system comprises:
a load lock chamber provided with an opening in the load lock chamber for allowing passage of the substrate from within the load lock chamber to outside of the load lock chamber, and a transfer apparatus comprising a sub-frame at least partially arranged in the load lock chamber, an arm which is, with a proximal end thereof, connected to the sub-frame, and a substrate receiving unit which is connected to a distal end of the arm, wherein the arm comprises at least three hinging arm parts, wherein a first and a second arm part of said three hinging arm parts are hingedly connected to the sub-frame with a proximal end of the first and second arm parts, and wherein a third arm part of said three hinging arm parts is hingedly connected to the distal ends of the first and second arm parts respectively, wherein the at least three hinging arm parts are arranged to form an at least four-bar linkage which is arranged to guide the arm in a predetermined transfer motion for moving at least part of the substrate receiving unit through the opening.