WO2019096426A1

WO2019096426A1 - Substrate process arrangement and method for holding a substrate

Info

Publication number: WO2019096426A1
Application number: PCT/EP2017/079800
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Lau; Anke Hellmich; Reiner Hinterschuster
Original assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
Priority date: 2017-11-20
Filing date: 2017-11-20
Publication date: 2019-05-23
Also published as: TW201936949A; CN211929431U

Abstract

A substrate support (100) for supporting a substrate (101) having a front surface (102) to be processed and an opposing back surface (115) is described. The substrate support includes a support body and a dry adhesive assembly (240) attached to the support body, the dry adhesive assembly having one or more dry adhesive elements (121), wherein the one or more dry adhesive elements support the substrate at the back surface in at least a center region and an outer region.

Description

SUBSTRATE PROCESS ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR

HOLDING A SUBSTRATE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments relate to a substrate support for vacuum processing. Embodiments of the present disclosure particularly relate to a substrate support with a support body and a dry adhesive assembly attached to the support body for processing a substrate, a vacuum processing apparatus including a vacuum chamber, a substrate support within the vacuum chamber and a processing station and a substrate processing system. Embodiments of the present disclosure further relate to a method for processing a substrate including holding a substrate in a non-vertical position.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Various techniques for layer deposition on a substrate, for example thermal evaporation, chemical vapor, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) such as sputter deposition are known. The sputter deposition process can be used to deposit a material layer on the substrate, for example a layer of insulating material. This involves ejecting material from a target onto a substrate. The target material to be deposited on the substrate is bombarded with ions generated in a plasma region to dislodge atoms of the target material from a surface of the target. The dislodged atoms can form the material layer on the substrate. In a reactive sputter deposition process, the dislodged atoms can react with a gas in the plasma region, for example nitrogen or oxygen, to form an oxide, a nitride or an oxynitride of the target material on the substrate.

[0003] Coated material can be used in several applications and in several technical fields. For instance, coated material may be used in the field of microelectronics, such as for generating semiconductor devices. Also, substrates for displays can be coated using a physical vapor deposition process. Further applications include insulating panels, organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, substrates with thin film transistors (TFTs), color filters or the like.

[0004] In current developments, for example in the field of mobile devices and TV- screens and the like, high resolution displays are beneficial. In the current development of mobile devices with high resolution as well as large 4k/8k TV-sets etc. a very low level of particles reaching the substrate, e.g. during PVD processing is beneficial. Due to cost and efficiency reasons the industry has the tendency to process increasingly large substrates. Large substrates, in particular large glass disks are difficult to handle during processing. The substrate is especially vulnerable to damage, breakage or scratches on the surface during transporting or aligning before process operations. During substrate processing, clamps are provided to hold the substrates on the edges of the substrate. Glass fixation grabs around the glass edge. Holding the substrate with clamps leads to issues with particles and uniformity due to glass mask alignments (shadowing effect), an increased glass mask gap influencing the particle level and the layer uniformity, and eventually side deposition on the clamps.

SUMMARY

[0005] In light of the above, a substrate support for substrate processing, a vacuum processing apparatus, methods for processing a substrate and a substrate processing system are provided.

[0006] According to one embodiment, a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a front surface to be processed and an opposing back surface is provided. The substrate support includes a support body and a dry adhesive assembly attached to the support body, the dry adhesive assembly having one or more dry adhesive elements, wherein the one or more dry adhesive elements support the substrate at the back surface in at least a center region and an outer region.

[0007] According to another embodiment, a method for processing a substrate is provided. The method includes holding a substrate in a non-vertical position, a back surface of the substrate being attached to dry adhesive elements and a front surface of the substrate facing downwards above a processing station.

[0008] According to another embodiment, a method for processing a substrate is provided. The method includes attaching a back surface of a substrate to a support body using dry adhesive elements, a front surface of the substrate to be processed facing upwards, and turning the support body upside down such that the front surface of the substrate to be processed is facing downwards.

[0009] According to another embodiment, a vacuum processing apparatus is provided. The vacuum processing apparatus includes a substrate support, including a support body and a dry adhesive arrangement at the support body having one or more dry adhesive elements, the one or more dry adhesive elements is configured to support a substrate at a back surface in at least a center region and an outer region, and a processing station at least partly below the substrate support.

[0010] According to another embodiment, a substrate processing system is provided. The substrate processing system includes a load module, a vacuum transfer chamber and a vacuum processing apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] So that the manner in which the above recited features can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments and are described in the following figures:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary substrate support having a dry adhesive assembly comprising a central holder and outer holders;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of another example of a substrate support comprising a central holder and outer holders; FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of another example of a substrate support comprising a central holder and outer holders with a closed-ring-like design;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of another example of an embodiment of a substrate support including four movable holders;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic top view of another example of an embodiment of a substrate support including four movable central holders and four movable outer holders;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional side view of an exemplary substrate support comprising a dry adhesive assembly on the surface of a support body of the substrate support;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic cross-section of an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus wherein a front surface of a substrate is being supported in a non- vertical position above a processing station.

FIG. 8 shows a greatly enlarged view of a mask covering a section of a substrate front surface.

FIG.9 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for processing a substrate according to embodiments described herein.

FIG. 10 shows another flow chart illustrating another method for processing a substrate according to embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Reference will now be made in detail to the various embodiments, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the figures. Within the following description of the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to same components. Generally, only the differences with respect to individual embodiments are described. Each example is provided by way of explanation and is not meant as a limitation. Further, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used on or in conjunction with other embodiments to yield yet a further embodiment. It is intended that the description includes such modifications and variations. [0013] Within the following description of the drawing, the same reference numbers refer to the same or to similar components. Generally, only the differences with respect to the individual embodiments are described. Unless specified otherwise, the description of a part or aspect in one applies to a corresponding part or aspect in another embodiment as well.

[0014] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a front surface to be processed and an opposing back surface is provided. The substrate support includes a support body and a dry adhesive assembly attached to the support body, the dry adhesive assembly having one or more dry adhesive elements, wherein the one or more dry adhesive elements support the substrate at the back surface in at least a center region and an outer region.

[0015] A substrate support with a dry adhesive, for example, a gecko chuck enables substrate processing in a non-vertical substrate orientation, particularly with the substrate facing downward, i.e. the substrate provided at least partially below the substrate carrier. A dry adhesive assembly enables to not only hold the glass edges, as provided e.g. using a clamping system, but can additional hold a center region or middle region of a substrate, e.g. a glass.

[0016] In light of the above, according to another aspect or embodiment, a vacuum processing apparatus can be provided. The vacuum processing apparatus includes a substrate support, including a support body and a dry adhesive arrangement at the support body having one or more dry adhesive elements. The one or more dry adhesive elements are configured to support the substrate at a back surface in at least a center region and an outer region at the processing station. The apparatus can include a processing station at least partly below the substrate support.

[0017] In the present disclosure, a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a front surface to be processed and an opposing back surface is provided. The substrate support includes a support body and a dry adhesive assembly attached to the support body. The dry adhesive assembly having one or more dry adhesive elements, wherein the one or more dry adhesive elements support the substrate at the back surface in at least a center region and an outer region. [0018] According to embodiments, a substrate support is to be understood as a support which is configured to hold a substrate, in particular a large substrate as described herein. Typically, the terms substrate support, carrier and support are used synonymously. The substrate held or supported by the substrate support as described herein includes a front surface and a back surface wherein the front surface is a surface of the substrate being processed. For example, the front surface is the surface on which a material layer is to be deposited. Typically, the substrate support is configured such that the back surface of the substrate can be attached to the carrier, particularly to a dry adhesive of the substrate support as described herein.

[0019] The term substrate as used herein may be an inflexible substrate, e.g. a glass plate, a metal plate, a wafer, slices of transparent crystal, a glass substrate or a ceramic plate. However, the present enclosure is not limited thereto and the term substrate can also embrace flexible substrates such as a web or a foil, e.g. a metal foil or a plastic foil. According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the substrate can be made from any material suitable for material deposition. For instance, the substrate can be made from a material selected from the group consisting of glass, such as soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass, metal, polymer, ceramic, compound materials, carbon fiber material, mica or any other material or combination of materials capable of being coated by a deposition process. For example a thickness of the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of the substrate can be within in range from 0.1 mm to 1.8 mm, such as 0.7 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.3 mm. In some embodiments, the thickness of the substrate may be 50 pm or more. The thickness of the substrate can also be 700 pm or less.

[0020] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate can be a large area substrate. A large area substrate may have a surface area of 0.5 m or more. Typically, a large area substrate may be used for display manufacturing and may be a glass or plastic substrate. For example, substrates as described herein shall embrace substrates used for an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), and the like. For instance, a large area substrate can have a main surface with an area of 1 m or larger. In some embodiments, a large area substrate can be GEN 4.5, which correspond to about 0.67 m substrates (0.73m x 0.92m), GEN 5, which corresponds to about 1.4 m substrates (1.1 m x 1.3 m), or larger. A large area substrate can further be GEN 7.5, which corresponds to about 4.29 m substrates (1.95 m x 2.2 m), GEN 8.5 which corresponds to about 5.7 m substrates (2.2 m x 2.5 m), or even GEN 10, which corresponds to about 8.7 m substrates (2.85 m x 3.05 m). Even larger generations such as GEN 11 and GEN 12 and corresponding substrates areas can similarly be implemented.

[0021] With reference to FIG. 1 showing a schematic top view of an exemplary rectangular shaped substrate support 100 according to embodiments described herein. The substrate support 100 includes a dry adhesive assembly 105 with dry adhesive elements. The dry adhesive assembly 105 is formed by a central holder 120 and outer holders 130. The central holder 120 is arranged at or in proximity of the center 145 of the substrate support 100. The outer holders 130 are arranged at the outer regions, in particular at the corner edges 118 of the substrate support 100. The outer holders 130 can form a gap area 114 on the surface 110 of the substrate support 100 between the outer holders 130 and outer edge 116 of the substrate support 100.

[0022] A substrate support can be provided by full area dry adhesive, such as a full area gecko chuck, or a pattern of smaller dry adhesive elements, as e.g. shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. A dry adhesive arrangement, e.g. a gecko chuck, can have a pattern or any other grid dry adhesive elements. This enables a processing or coating area with a substrate, e.g. a glass, hanging with the active side, i.e. the front surface, to face downwards. Generated particles would follow the gravity and fall down away from the front surface (active glass side). Furthermore, utilizing a dry adhesive such as a Gecko material, avoids particle generation from glass clamping.

[0023] Another exemplary embodiment of a substrate support 100 is shown in FIG. 2; a dry adhesive assembly 105 is shown including two outer holders 130, which are arranged at two opposing sides on the surface 110 of the substrate support 100. The outer holder 130 can have a strip-like design. [0024] With reference to FIG. 3, another exemplary embodiment of a substrate support 100 is shown from a top view; a dry adhesive assembly 105 is shown having an outer holder 130 with a ring-like design at the outer region and a central holder 120 at or in proximity of the central point or center 145. For example, the outer holder can surround or partially surround the central holder.

[0025] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a support body can be understood as an arrangement configured to hold a substrate. For instance, the support body can be a rigid body, such as a frame or a plate. In particular, the support body can be configured to support a surface of a substrate, such as the back surface of a substrate. The support body can have a polygon shaped design which forms a flat surface, in particular a uniform flat surface to support the back surface of the substrate. For example, the support body can have a rectangular or a square shaped design. The circumference of the support body can have substantially the same circumference as compared to the supported substrate.

[0026] The dry adhesive element can include a plurality of dry adhesive structures. The dry adhesive structures can include a first adhesive structure protruding from the surface, wherein the first adhesive structure has an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. For example, the plurality of the adhesive structures can have an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. The dry adhesive structures can have a second dry adhesive structure protruding from the surface. The first adhesive structure bends differently when bended in the same direction with the same force.

[0027] According to embodiments, supporting the substrate at the back surface in a center region can be understood such that the substrate is supported in an area close to the center point of the substrate. The center point may be the geometrical center of the back surface of the substrate. For example, when supporting a substrate, which has a rectangular or a square shape, the center point can be the point of intersection of the two diagonals of the back surface of the substrate. Supporting the substrate in a center region or in proximity to the center region can be beneficial to prevent bending or deforming of the substrate due to the own weight of the substrate. [0028] According to embodiments, supporting the substrate at an outer region can be understood such that the substrate is supported at the edge areas of the substrate. An outer region of the substrate can be a region close to or along the circumference of the substrate. Supporting the substrate at an outer region can also be understood such that the substrate is supported in areas being closer to the edges of the substrate than to the center of the substrate.

[0029] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate support is configured to hold the substrate in a non-vertical position, wherein the back surface of the substrate is attached to the dry adhesive element and the front surface of the substrate is facing downwards. The substrate can hang below the substrate support. A non-vertical position can be understood particularly when referring to the substrate orientation, to allow for a deviation from the horizontal-direction or orientation of +/- 20° or below, e.g. +/- 10° below. A deviation from the horizontal position of the substrate can be beneficial to facilitate the transport and/or alignment of the substrate.

[0030] In the present disclosure, a dry adhesive arrangement is to be understood as a holding arrangement configured to provide an adhesive force for attaching a substrate described therein. In particular, the dry adhesive arrangement can be provided on or attached to the support body, such that a substrate as described therein can be held by the support body via the dry adhesive arrangement. More specifically, the dry adhesive arrangement as described herein may include a dry adhesive element as described herein. The dry adhesive element can be configured to provide the adhesive force by van der Waals force. The dry adhesive arrangement is configured to form a connection between a substrate surface and a substrate support. The connection between the substrate and the dry adhesive arrangement can be slip resistant, nonskid or the like. Advantageously, the connection between a substrate and the dry adhesive arrangement can be residue-free disconnected, for example, after the substrate processing, in particular after the deposition process.

[0031] According to embodiments, the dry adhesive element can be a synthetic setae material. The adhesive capability of the dry adhesive, specifically of the synthetic setae material can be inorganic. According to some embodiments the dry adhesive element can be substantially 100% inorganic.

[0032] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the adhesive force provided by the dry adhesive assembly can be provided for holding or carrying the substrate as described herein. In particular, the dry adhesive assembly can be configured to provide an adhesive force of about 2 N/cm or more, particularly 3 N/cm or more, more particularly 4

N/cm 2 or more, for instance a least 5 N/cm 2 or more.

[0033] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive assembly is configured to form one or more holders on the support body. A holder can be understood as an enclosed or self-contained area on the surface of the substrate support including a dry adhesive element for attaching to a back surface of a substrate. A holder can form patterns of dry adhesive elements on the support body.

[0034] With reference to FIG. 4, a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment of a substrate support 100 including four holders 225a, 225b, 225c, 225d is shown. The four holders 225 can have substantially the same size and are provided at a center region and an outer region of the substrate support 100. The holders are configured to be movable in a radially outwards direction 255, in particular towards the edges of the substrate support 100, more particular towards the corner edges 265 of the substrate support 100. A holder 225 can be moved by a mandrel 235 or the like, In particular the mandrel 235 can press the holder outward along the a radial path 245 depicted by the dashed line.

[0035] According to embodiments described herein, moving a holder or a dry adhesive element allows for releasing the substrate from the substrate support. Particularly, a movement of two or more dry adhesive elements providing a pulling force to substrate portions can be beneficial for substrate release. For example, movements can be such that a first dry adhesive element or holder moves relative to a substrate surface, a second dry adhesive element or holder moves relative to the substrate surface, and the corresponding forces cancel each other out to provide for a stable or essentially stable substrate position.

[0036] With reference to FIG. 5, a schematic top view of an another example of an embodiment of a substrate support including four movable central holders 335a, 335b, 335c, 335d and four movable outer holders 345a, 345b, 345c, 345d is shown. The central holders are configured to be movable in a radially outwards direction. The outer holders are configured to be movable in a radially outwards and/or in a radially inwards direction.

[0037] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the one or more holder is arranged movably on the support body. The term movably can be understood such that a holder is configured to move or be moved along the surface of the support body. The movement of the holder along the surface of the support body can for example be run along a channel or a groove formed on the substrate support surface for setting the movement direction of the holder on the substrate support. The holder can be configured to have a first state, wherein the holder can move or can be moved and a second state, wherein the holder can lock on to the support body to be fixed on the support body. In particular, a holder can be configured to be moveable radially outwards and radially inwards with respect to a center point of the substrate support. The holder can also be configured to be movable along circle lines around the center point of the substrate support.

[0038] The term movably can also be understood such that the holder is configured to be arranged extendably and/or retractably on the support body. Extending and/or retracting holders can for example protrude to some extend out of a support surface of the support body to facilitate the attaching procedure and detaching procedure of a substrate on the holder, in particular on the substrate support. Having a holder arranged movably on the substrate support can be beneficial for detaching a substrate from the support body, in particular for detaching the dry adhesive elements from the back surface of the substrate. [0039] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments, the dry adhesive assembly is configured to have an attachment area which correspond to at least 75% of the back surface of the substrate. In particular, the dry adhesive assembly can be configured to have an attachment area which corresponds to at least 80% of the back surface of the substrate, more particularly to at least 90% of the back surface of the substrate.

[0040] According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive element comprising a first adhesive structure over a first area and a second adhesive structure of a second area. A first adhesive structure can have an anisotropic flexibility which is different from an anisotropic flexibility of the second adhesive structure. For example, the first adhesive structure can have an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. The dry adhesive structures can include a first adhesive structure protruding from the surface, wherein the first adhesive structure has an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. For example, the plurality of the adhesive structures can have an anisotropic flexibility parallel to the surface. The dry adhesive structures can have a second dry adhesive structure protruding from the surface. The first adhesive structure bends differently when bent in the same direction with the same force.

[0041] With exemplary reference to FIG. 6 according to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the dry adhesive elements 240 can attach a back surface 115 of a substrate 101. The dry adhesive elements 240 can be configured to provide an adhesive force for holding the substrate 101. Typically, the back surface 115 of the substrate is not to be processed. The back surface opposes the front surface or active surface. The dry adhesive elements 240 can include filaments 121, in particular a plurality of filaments 121 for attaching the back surface 115 of the substrate 101. The term filament can be synonymously used with the term adhesive structure.

[0042] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments, the dry adhesive element can include a Gecko adhesive. The adhesive capability of the dry adhesive element of the dry adhesive assembly can be related to the adhesive properties of a Gecko foot. The adhesive capability of the gecko foot is provided by numerous hair-type extensions, called setae, on the feet of the Gecko. It is noted here that the term synthetic setae material can be understood as a synthetic material emulating the natural adhesive capability of the gecko food and including similar adhesive capabilities of the gecko foot. Moreover, the term synthetic setae material can be synonymously used with the term synthetic gecko setae material or with the term gecko tape material. For example, a support body having a gecko adhesive material may also be referred to as a G-chuck. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and other dry adhesive elements are suitable for holding the substrate.

[0043] FIG. 7 depicts a schematic cross-section of an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus 200. A substrate 101 is supported by a substrate support 100 in a non-vertical position, e.g. a horizontal position or essentially horizontal position. The substrate is supported above a processing station 220. The substrate 101 is supported by a dry adhesive arrangement. The processing station 220 may include a rotational target 215 for sputtering deposition. The substrate 101 can be held substantially parallel to the rotary target 215.

[0044] A mask 230 can be arranged in front of the substrate 101, in particular, in front of the edge 103 of the front surface 102 of the substrate 101. Material 222a of the rotational target 215 is ejected from the surface of the rotational target 215 to be deposited onto a front surface 102 of the substrate 101. The material 222a ejected from a surface 217 of the target 215 passes the distance 250 between the surface 217 of the rotational target 215 and the front surface 102 of the substrate 101 for being deposited on the front surface 102. Particles 222c, which would deteriorate the device quality when adhering to the substrate surface, fall to the bottom 280 of the vacuum process chamber. For example, the distance 250 can be below 300mm, in particular less than 260mm, or in particular between 240mm and 260mm.

[0045] According to embodiments, which can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, a mask is arranged in front of the substrate and the mask covers an edge area of the substrate. For instance, a mask may be an edge exclusion mask or a shadow mask or the like. An edge exclusion mask is a mask configured to mask one or more edge regions of a substrate, such that no material is deposited on the one or more edge regions of a substrate during the coating and/or processing of the substrate.

[0046] A processing station can be understood as a station, which includes one or more devices for processing the substrate. A device for processing can be, for example, a device providing a coating to a front surface of a substrate. For example, sputter source or vapor deposition source can be used for coating the front surface of the substrate. In particular, physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition devices and the like can be used as processing devices.

[0047] As described above, below the substrate, e.g. a glass, an edge exclusion, an edge exclusion mask or a mask can be located followed by the coating source which could be a planar or rotary target. According to embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments, the glass-mask-distance can be reduced by the dry adhesive arrangement. The glass-mask-distance can be as small as possible since the glass edge is straight and no clamp would interfere with the edge exclusion, i.e. the masking.

[0048] Embodiments described herein provide a processing or coating area with a substrate, e.g. a glass, hanging with the active side, i.e. the front surface, facing downwards. Particles follow the gravity and fall down away from the active glass side. Furthermore the particles from the glass clamping are not generated.

[0049] According to embodiments, a vacuum processing apparatus is provided. The processing apparatus includes a substrate support including a support body as described herein, and a dry adhesive arrangement at the support body having one or more dry adhesive elements as describe herein. The one or more dry adhesive elements is configured to support the substrate, as described herein, at a back surface in at least a center region and an outer region within a processing station, wherein the processing station is at least partly below the substrate.

[0050] With reference to FIG. 8, a greatly enlarged view of a mask 230 covering a section l02a of a substrate front surface 102 is schematically depicted. The section l02a of the substrate front surface 102 is the part of the substrate front surface which should remain particle free, in particular which is not to be processed. The dashed line 104 separates the section of the front surface 102 to be processed and the section l02a of the surface not to be processed. The reference number l04a defines a boundary surface area l04a between the sections l02a and l02b. Due to the horizontal processing, particles 222c tend to move parallel to a processing direction 272 towards the substrate front surface 102. The dimension l04b between a deposited surface and a non-deposited surface in the boundary surface area l04a depends essentially on the distance 305 between the mask 230 and the front surface 102, on the processing direction 272 of the particles 222c and on the size of the particles 222c. A smaller distance 305, can lead to a smaller dimension l04b of a boundary surface area l04a, in particular an improved edge exclusion or shadowing of the edge.

[0051] As compared to a vertical or essentially vertical substrate arrangement, particles generated in the processing apparatus, e.g. at a bond gap of a target or on the edge exclusion mask, would follow gravity and are more unlikely to reach the active surface of the substrate. Further, particles that would be generated by a clamp can be avoided with the dry adhesive arrangement, e.g. a gecko chuck. Further, the dry adhesive arrangement allows for a smaller mask-substrate-distance as compared to a substrate supported by clamps. This allows for an improved masking.

[0052] According to embodiments, a method for processing a substrate is provided. The method includes a substrate support according to embodiments described herein, wherein the support body is holding the substrate in a non-vertical position and the back surface of the substrate is attached to the dry adhesive element, the front surface of the substrate is facing downwards within a processing station. The term facing downwards can be understood as described herein, wherein facing downward within a processing station can be understood such that the front surface of the substrate faces a processing station, which is at least partly below the substrate support, in particular below the substrate. Supporting a substrate facing downwards toward a processing station enables horizontal processing of a front surface of the substrate.

[0053] FIG. 9 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for processing a substrate according to embodiments described herein. The method 400 includes transporting 410 the substrate wherein the front side of the substrate facing upwards, attaching 420 the backside of substrate to a support body as described herein, turning the substrate upside down 430 wherein the front surface, which is to be processed faces downwards, moving 440 the substrate in a processing area, processing 450 the substrate facing downwards as describe herein.

[0054] Fig. 10 shows a flow chart illustrating another method 500 for processing a substrate according to embodiments described herein. The method 500 includes attaching 510 a backside of a substrate to a support body wherein the front side of the substrate faces downwards, moving 520 the substrate in a processing area, processing 530 the substrate front surface facing downwards as described herein, moving 540 the substrate out of the process area wherein the front surface of the substrate is facing downwards as described herein.

[0055] According to embodiments, a substrate processing system including a load module, a vacuum transfer chamber and a vacuum processing apparatus as described herein is provided. A processing system can include more than one or a plurality of load modules, transfer chambers or vacuum processing apparatuses. A substrate processing system includes a vacuum transfer chamber wherein more than one, in particular a plurality, of vacuum transfer chambers are provided. The substrate can be grabbed from the top and brought to the process module as well as grabbed from below and turned upside down. Hanging from a gecko chuck, i.e. a substrate support, which would be installed on a transport system, plate fork or the like, uncoated glass can be provided to the process module.

[0056] A load module can be understood as a module capable for an intake or an acceptance of a substrate. The load module can be a chamber with an opening at one side being configured to receive a substrate. The load module can be connected to a transporting device being configured to transport a substrate to the load module. For example, a load module can be understood as an air lock for transferring a substrate to a chamber with low pressure, in particular to a chamber with vacuum pressure. According to embodiments, the load module is connected to a vacuum transfer chamber. [0057] A vacuum transfer chamber can be understood as a chamber with vacuum pressure connected to other substrate processing modules, chambers or devices. The vacuum transfer chamber can be configured to move a substrate to other modules or devices connected to the vacuum transfer chamber for further substrate processing. According to embodiments, more than one vacuum processing apparatus can be arranged at the vacuum transfer chamber, in particular at the outer wall of the vacuum transfer chamber. The vacuum transfer chamber can form a transporting path configuration between the vacuum processing apparatuses.

[0058] The vacuum transfer chamber can be understood as a transporting path configuration, wherein several substrate processing modules, like process apparatuses, are arranged at the lateral areas of the transporting path configuration. Each substrate processing module or substrate processing system can be connected to the transporting path configuration for example by an opening or by an air-lock.

[0059] According to embodiments, the substrate processing system can include, at least sectionally, more than one substrate process apparatuses arranged next to each other wherein in a first process apparatus a substrate supported by the a support body is moved into a processing area of a processing station as described herein. For further processing, the substrate can be moved along further processing apparatuses wherein the substrate is moved in a non-vertical position alongside the processing stations of the processing apparatuses. The movement of the substrate support alongside the processing stations can be carried out with a fixed speed, or with a variable speed.

[0060] The present disclosure has several advantages including providing a substrate support for holding a substrate on the back surface with no need for other holding arrangements affecting the front or lateral surfaces of the substrate. The substrate support described herein enables a substrate processing in a non-vertical position with no side deposition on other holding arrangements reaching around the glass edge. Non-vertical substrate processing enables thinner and finer coatings due to preventing larger particles from being deposited on a substrate surface.

Claims

1. A substrate support for supporting a substrate having a front surface to be processed and an opposing back surface, the substrate support comprising: a support body; and a dry adhesive assembly attached to the support body, the dry adhesive assembly having one or more dry adhesive elements, wherein the one or more dry adhesive elements support the substrate at the back surface in at least a center region and an outer region.

2. The substrate support according to claim 1, wherein the substrate support is configured to hold the substrate in a non-vertical position, the back surface of the substrate being attached to the dry adhesive elements and the front surface of the substrate facing downwards.

3. The substrate support according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dry adhesive assembly is configured to form one or more holders on the support body.

4. The substrate support according to claim 3, wherein the one or more holders are arranged movably on the support body.

5. The substrate support according to any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the dry adhesive assembly is configured to have an attachment area which corresponds to at least 75% of the back surface of the substrate.

6. The substrate support according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the dry adhesive elements comprising a first adhesive structure over a first area of the support body and a second adhesive structure over a second area of the support body.

7. The substrate support according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the dry one or more adhesive elements comprises a Gecko adhesive.

8. Method for processing a substrate, comprising:

Holding the substrate in a non-vertical position, a back surface of the substrate being attached to dry adhesive elements and a front surface of the substrate facing downwards above a processing station.

9. Method for processing a substrate, comprising: Attaching a back surface of a substrate to a support body using dry adhesive elements, a front surface of the substrate to be processed facing upwards; and turning the support body upside down, the front surface of the substrate to be processed facing downwards.

10. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a substrate support, including a support body; and a dry adhesive arrangement at the support body having one or more dry adhesive elements, the one or more dry adhesive element is configured to support a substrate at a back surface in at least a center region and an outer region; and a processing station at least partly below the substrate support.

11. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the substrate support is configured to move the substrate being in a non-vertical position in and out of the processing station.

12. The vacuum processing apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 11, wherein a mask is arranged in front of the substrate, the mask covering an edge area of the substrate.

13. A substrate processing system, comprising: a load module; a vacuum transfer chamber; and a vacuum processing apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 12.