SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOW CONTAMINATION, HIGH THROUGHPUT HANDLING OF WORKPIECES FOR VACUUM PROCESSING

摘要

A workpiece handling system with dual load locks (406), a vacuum transport chamber (408), and a vacuum process chamber (410). The transport chamber has a transport robot (422) with two arms (430) rotating about a common, central shaft (428), to access either the load locks or the process chamber. The robot may also be raised or lowered to align the arms with the desired location to which workpieces are deposited, or from which workpieces are retrieved. The two load locks may be positioned one above the other such that a simple vertical motion of the robot can be used to select between the two load locks. Additional process chambers may be added to the transport chamber to further increase throughput. Linear (418) and rotational (420) doors may be used for the load locks to provide a simple, compact design.