Fortrend Vacuum Transfer Modules (VTM)
The Fortrend vacuum transfer module
A vacuum transfer module (VTM) is the central chamber of a cluster tool. Its vacuum robot moves wafers between the load locks and the process modules while the tool stays under vacuum.
Fortrend builds standard VTMs with four to eight sides, and designs custom chambers around a customer’s process modules. It designs the core hardware and software itself and assembles the systems at its own plant in Wuxi, China. The modules suit PVD, CVD, ALD, etch and other front-end process equipment. They carry Taiko wafers, frame wafers, masks and photovoltaic wafers as well as standard wafers.
SiSTEM is Fortrend’s distributor for the UK, Ireland and Europe. We work through the configuration with tool builders and fabs, and our engineers install and service the VTM on site.
Standard chambers
- Four-sided and pentagonal: for wafers up to 200mm, with a 300mm pentagonal version
- Hexagonal, heptagonal and octagonal: for wafers up to 200mm, docking four, five and six process modules
- 300mm dual-feed: a dual-feed VTM combined with an EFEM
- Dual-chamber: two transfer chambers linked, for larger tools
Performance
- Wafer surface cleanliness Class 1
- 200 wafers an hour or more
- Uptime 98% or better
- Silicon, silicon carbide and glass wafers
Options
- Standard or custom vacuum robots, with end effectors chosen for the substrate
- Load locks for 200mm and 300mm wafers, in several designs and transfer methods
- Alignment, cooling and pre-heat modules built into the transfer chamber or the load lock
- AWC, wafer buffer and wafer storage modules
- An EFEM or SMIF front end, for FOUPs, FOSBs, SMIF pods or open cassettes, brought in by an operator, AGV or OHT
To quote we’ll ask about
- The process, and the process modules to be docked
- Wafer size, type and material, and the carrier
- How many process modules and load locks
- The front end, how carriers arrive, and the cleanliness class
