US 12,142,508 B2
Factory interface robots usable with integrated load locks
Sushant S. Koshti, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Paul B. Reuter, Austin, TX (US); David Phillips, Austin, TX (US); Jacob Newman, Palo Alto, CA (US); Andrew J. Constant, Cupertino, CA (US); Michael R. Rice, Pleasonton, CA (US); Shay Assaf, Santa Clara, CA (US); Srinivas Poshatrahalli Gopalakrishna, Bangalore (IN); Devendra Channappa Holeyannavar, Bangalore (IN); Douglas B. Baumgarten, Round Rock, TX (US); Arunkumar Ramachandraiah, Bengaluru (IN); and Narayanan Ramachandran, Bangalore (IN)
Assigned to Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by APPLIED MATERIALS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/499,109.
Prior Publication US 2023/0113673 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. H01L 21/677 (2006.01); B65G 1/04 (2006.01); H01L 21/687 (2006.01)
CPC H01L 21/67778 (2013.01) [B65G 1/0407 (2013.01); B65G 1/0485 (2013.01); H01L 21/67775 (2013.01); H01L 21/68707 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A factory interface for an electronic device manufacturing system, the factory interface comprising:
a first load lock disposed within an interior volume of the factory interface; and
a first factory interface robot disposed within the interior volume of the factory interface, wherein:
the first factory interface robot is configured to transfer substrates between a first set of substrate carriers and the first load lock; and
the factory interface robot comprises a vertical tower, a plurality of links, and an end effector, wherein the vertical tower comprises a vertical drive mechanism configured to provide the plurality of links with linear movement in a z-axis and a proximal link of the plurality of links is coupled to the vertical drive mechanism.