Method and apparatus for reducing particle contamination during wafer transport

摘要

The present invention provides method and apparatus for reducing particulate contamination during the processing of a substrate. In one embodiment, the step of preheating a substrate in a preheater to a desired temperature. The preheated substrate is transferred from the preheater to a buffer region having a pressure therein that is between about two (2) Torr and about seven hundred and sixty (760) Torr. The preheated substrate is transferred from the buffer region to a reaction chamber. Thermophoretic forces help repel particles away from the substrate surface during substrate transfer.