US 12,186,851 B2
Use of vacuum during transfer of substrates
Ramesh Chandrasekharan, Lake Oswego, OR (US); Michael Philip Roberts, Tigard, OR (US); Paul Konkola, West Linn, OR (US); Michael G. R. Smith, West Linn, OR (US); Brian Joseph Williams, Tigard, OR (US); Ravi Kumar, Beaverton, OR (US); Pulkit Agarwal, Beaverton, OR (US); and Adrien Lavoie, Newberg, OR (US)
Assigned to Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US)
Appl. No. 17/619,420
Filed by LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION, Fremont, CA (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 16, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/037858
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 15, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/257147, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 24, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/863,564, filed on Jun. 19, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0305601 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. B23Q 3/00 (2006.01); B23Q 3/08 (2006.01); B25B 11/00 (2006.01)
CPC B23Q 3/088 (2013.01) [B25B 11/005 (2013.01); B23Q 2703/04 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for evacuating a volume below a substrate in a substrate processing system, the method comprising:
arranging the substrate on a lift mechanism of a substrate support, wherein the lift mechanism is configured to be transitioned between raised and lowered positions relative to an upper surface of the substrate support and comprises a plurality of channels extending through a body of the lift mechanism or in and along a periphery of the lift mechanism, and wherein, when the substrate is arranged on the lift mechanism in the raised position, the volume below the substrate is defined between the substrate and the upper surface of the substrate support;
initiating an evacuation step to evacuate the volume below the substrate, wherein the evacuation step includes operating a pump to pump down the volume below the substrate at least one of through and around the lift mechanism while the lift mechanism is being lowered to position the substrate on the upper surface of the substrate support;
lowering the lift mechanism during the evacuation step to position the substrate on the upper surface of the substrate support; and
terminating the evacuation step.