US 12,315,748 B2
Workpiece handling architecture for high workpiece throughput
Jason M. Schaller, Austin, TX (US); Michael Carrell, Leander, TX (US); William T. Weaver, Austin, TX (US); and Charles T. Carlson, Cedar Park, TX (US)
Assigned to Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 31, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/977,422.
Prior Publication US 2024/0145271 A1, May 2, 2024
Int. Cl. H01L 21/67 (2006.01); H01L 21/677 (2006.01); H01L 21/687 (2006.01)
CPC H01L 21/67201 (2013.01) [H01L 21/67718 (2013.01); H01L 21/68707 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for transporting workpieces to a platen, comprising:
two load locks;
a multi-workpiece orientation station, having a plurality of alignment slots, each alignment slot configured to align a respective workpiece prior to being placed on the platen, and a plurality of pass through slots, each pass through slot configured to hold a workpiece that has been processed;
two multi-pick robots, each associated with a respective load lock and each having an arm having a plurality of picks to transfer a first plurality of workpieces from the respective load lock to the alignment slots of the multi-workpiece orientation station, wherein each of the first plurality of workpieces is placed in a respective alignment slot to be aligned; and
two backend robots, each of which configured to transfer workpieces between the multi-workpiece orientation station and the platen.