WO2025054493A1

WO2025054493A1 - Compartmental link substrate transport apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2025054493A1
Application number: PCT/US2024/045646
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert C. May; Robert T. Caveney; Matthew J. Mclellan
Original assignee: Brooks Automation US LLC
Current assignee: Brooks Automation US LLC
Priority date: 2023-09-08
Filing date: 2024-09-06
Publication date: 2025-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-08
Also published as: TW202529972A

Abstract

A transfer apparatus includes a frame forming a sealed chamber with a processing vacuum therein, and an articulated arm connected to the frame, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at a movable arm link and an end effector with a substrate holding station located thereon. The movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint. The outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber; and the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing.

Description

COMP ARTMENTAL LINK SUBSTRATE TRANSPORT APPARATUS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

[0001] This application is a non-provisional of and claims the benefit of United States provisional patent application number 63/581,509 filed on September 8, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application also claims the benefit of United States provisional patent application numbers 63/581,512 filed September 8, 2023 and 63/685,401 filed August 21, 2024, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to robotic systems, and more particularly, to robotic transport systems.

2. Brief Description of Related Developments

[0003] Generally, transport robots employed in high vacuum semiconductor manufacturing environments are driven by motors that are centralized in a motor housing of the transport robot. This motor housing is mounted to, for example, a vacuum transport chamber where coaxial drive shafts extend from the motor housing into the vacuum environment. Here, either the entire motor housing is sealed from the vacuum environment (where the coaxial drive shafts extend through the seal) or the stators of the motors are sealed from the vacuum environment by, for example, “can” seals (as such seal is known in the art) and/or ferro-fluidic seals. The robot arm is coupled to the coaxial drive shafts where one or more arm links of the robot arm are driven by band and pulley transmissions. This arrangement provides for the interior of each arm link having the same vacuum environment of the vacuum transport chamber.

[0004] In other aspects, the arm links of the transport robots may be directly driven where motors are located in the arm joints at the axis of rotation of a respective arm link. Here, the interior of the arm links are maintained with an atmospheric environment therein to facilitate protection of the motor, and its encoders, from corrosive attack by the vacuum environment. There is also a trend towards large format vacuum transport robots that have a longer reach than smaller format robots. In these large format vacuum transport robots, arm link lengths are greater than about 400 mm and maintaining an atmospheric environment within such arm links, with the transport robot operating in a vacuum environment, produces large forces (e.g., greater than about 3500 lbs/in²) on the arm link walls, which in turn requires an increased thickness (and mass) of the arm link structural members to support the increased force on the arm link walls. Increasing the mass of the arm links also increases the inertia of the arm links, which require larger motors to rotate.

[0005] There is also a trend of increased process temperatures in semiconductor manufacturing. These increased process temperatures place higher demands on vacuum transport robot performance. As may be realized, the portion of the transport robot subject to and having the highest temperature is the end effector, which is exposed to hot substrates and interiors of hot process module chambers. As an example, an end effector picking/placing a substrate to a process chamber configured for a typical deposition process can experience temperatures of about 150°C. These process temperatures are not conducive to optimal operation of motors placed at the joints of the vacuum transport arm having directly driven joints and these temperatures typically exceed the operating temperatures of the motor encoders. As noted above, the motor stators and encoders must be isolated from the vacuum environment. Typically, ferro-fluidic seals may be employed to seal the rotary joint of the vacuum transport robot; however, ferro-fluidic seal reliability decreases proportionally with an increase in operating temperature. [0006] Accordingly, the present disclosure addresses a number of those issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The foregoing aspects and other features of the present disclosure are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0008] Figs. 1 A-1I are schematic illustrations of substrate processing apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0009] Figs. 2A-2H are schematic illustrations of exemplary substrate transport apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure, and which may be employed in any of the substrate processing apparatus of Figs. 1A-1I;

[0010] Figs. 3A-3H are a schematic illustrations of portions of an exemplary substrate transport apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure, and which may be employed in any of the substrate processing apparatus of Figs. 1A-1I;

[0011] Figs. 4A-4F are schematic illustrations of a compartmentalized arm link structure of the substrate transport apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0012] Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the arm link structure of Figs. 4A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0013] Fig. 6 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the arm link structure of Figs. 4A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0014] Figs. 7, 7A, and 7B are a schematic illustrations of portions of the arm link structure of Figs. 4A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure; [0015] Figs. 8A-8C are schematic illustrations of exemplary couplings between portions of the arm link structure of Figs. 4A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0016] Fig. 9 is an exemplary illustration of a Gray code pattern of an encoder of the substrate transport apparatus, described herein, in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0017] Fig. 10 is an exemplary scale of an encoder of the substrate transport apparatus, described herein, in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0018] Figs. 11A-11C are schematic illustrations of portions of an exemplary substrate transport apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure, and which may be employed in any of the substrate processing apparatus of Figs. 1A-1I;

[0019] Fig. 12 is a schematic illustration of a portion of compartmentalized arm link structure of the substrate transport apparatus of Figs. 11 A-l 1C in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0020] Fig. 13A is a schematic illustration of a portion of compartmentalized arm link structure of the substrate transport apparatus of Figs. 11 A-l 1C in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0021] Fig. 13B is a schematic illustration of a portion of compartmentalized arm link structure of the substrate transport apparatus of Figs. 3A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0022] Fig. 13C is a schematic illustration of a portion of the substrate transport apparatus of Figs. 3A-4F in accordance with the present disclosure; and

[0023] Figs. 14, 15, 16, and 17 are exemplary flow diagrams of method sin accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0024] The following detailed description is meant to assist the understanding of one skilled in the art, and is not intended in any way to unduly limit claims connected or related to the present disclosure.

[0025] The following detailed description references various figures, where like reference numbers refer to like components and features across various figures, whether specific figures are referenced, or not.

[0026] The word “each” as used herein refers to a single object (i.e., the object) in the case of a single object or each object in the case of multiple objects. The words “a,” “an,” and “the” as used herein are inclusive of “at least one” and “one or more” so as not to limit the noun being referred to as being in its “singular” form.

[0027] Figs. 1 A-1I are schematic illustrations of substrate processing apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure could be embodied in many forms. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.

[0028] The present disclosure may provide a vacuum transport robot that operates at high temperatures with reliability, accuracy, and throughput equal to or greater than conventional vacuum robot architectures.

[0029] The present disclosure provides a vacuum substrate transport apparatus 104 (which may also be employed in atmospheric environments) for the substrate processing apparatus 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G of Figs. 1A-1I. The transport apparatus 104 may be configured to operate at high process temperatures (such as about 70°C, about 100°C, about 150°C, or greater in accordance with the semiconductor processes described herein). The substrate transport apparatus 104 includes a hybrid rotary seal approach where ferro-fluidic seals are placed within the substrate transport apparatus at cooler locations (e.g., away from the end effector and wrist joint at temperatures of about 70°C or below) which may increase reliability of the substrate transport apparatus compared to conventional transport apparatus. The wrist axis WX includes at least one vacuum isolation wall and employs rotor and magnetic encoder encapsulation for cleanliness and corrosion resistance (the magnetic encoder providing for higher operating temperatures of the substrate transport apparatus 104, such as at the high process temperatures described herein).

[0030] Portions of the motorized joints, which house at least the motor stators and motor encoders, share a common pressurized environment that is sealed from the vacuum or depressurized environment. The manner of sealing the portions of the motorized joints effects operation of the substrate transport apparatus 104 when exposed to the high process temperatures. The present disclosure provides for large format transport apparatus having lighter arm links compared to conventional large format transport apparatus (e.g., having arm links that are greater than 400 mm in length). The arm links may be compartmentalized so that only components that need to be pressurized are isolated from the vacuum environment (also referred to herein as a depressurized environment or stagnant internal environment), while other portions are depressurized (e.g., have substantially the same vacuum/process pressure as the vacuum environment). The compartments of the arm links may provide a pressurized atmospheric environment for the isolated components, where the volume of the atmospheric environment is such that the volume effects minimization the surface area of the respective arm link that is exposed to the vacuum environment (and pressure differential created thereby). The rest of the arm link volume, external to the atmospheric compartment, may be depressurized and resides within the vacuum/depressurized environment.

[0031] The compartmentalized arm links may provide active forced convection cooling to each arm joint through the shared common pressurized environment, which active forced convection cooling cools the arm and may increase bearing and/or lubricant useful life. The compartmentalized arm links may provide for thinner structural members that reduce the mass and inertia of the arm links compared to conventional large format transport apparatus. This reduced mass and inertia may reduce the motor torque requirements to rotate the arm links, which may result in a decrease in motor power consumption, smaller gauge power cables, and reduced heat generated by the motors. The reduced forces on the arm links may minimize deformation and stress on the arm links, which may be beneficial to planarity of arm motion trajectory.

[0032] Still referring to Figs. 1A-1I, the substrate processing apparatus 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G such as for example a semiconductor tool station, is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. Although a semiconductor tool station is shown in the drawings, the present disclosure may be applied to any tool station or application employing robotic manipulators. The processing apparatus 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G are shown as having cluster tool arrangements (e.g. having substrate holding stations connected to a central chamber); however, the processing apparatus may be a linearly arranged tool, or the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable tool station. The apparatus 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G generally include an atmospheric front end 101, at least one vacuum load lock 102, 102A, 102B and a vacuum back end 103. The at least one vacuum load lock 102, 102A, 102B may be coupled to any suitable port(s) or opening(s) of the front end 101 and/or back end 103 in any suitable arrangement. For example, the one or more load locks 102, 102A, 102B may be arranged in a common horizontal plane in a side-by-side arrangement as can be seen in Figs. IB, 1D-1H. The one or more load locks may be arranged in a grid format such that at least two load locks 102A, 102B, 102C, 102D are arranged in rows (e.g. having spaced apart horizontal planes) and columns (e.g. having spaced apart vertical planes) as shown in Fig. II. The one or more load lock may be a single in-line load lock 102 as shown in Fig. 1A. The at least one load lock 102, 102E may be arranged in a stacked in-line arrangement as shown in Fig. 1C. While the load locks are illustrated on end 100E1 or facet 100F1 of a transport chamber or transfer apparatus 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (each of which has a frame TCF forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum (such as a high vacuum) therein), the one or more load lock may be arranged on any number of sides 100S1, 100S2, ends 100E1, 100E2 or facets 100F1-100F8 of the transport chamber 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G. Each of the at least one load lock may also include one or more wafer/substrate resting planes WRP (Fig. 1C) in which substrates are held on suitable supports within the respective load lock. The tool station may have any suitable configuration. The components of each of the front end 101, the at least one load lock 102, 102A, 102B, and back end 103 may be connected to a controller 110 which may be part of any suitable control architecture such as, for example, a clustered architecture control. The control system may be a closed loop controller having a master controller, cluster controllers and autonomous remote controllers such as those disclosed in United States patent number 7,904,182 entitled “Scalable Motion Control System” issued on March 8, 2011 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Any suitable controller and/or control system may be utilized.

[0033] The front end 101 may generally include load port modules 105 and a mini-environment 106 such as for example an equipment front end module (EFEM). The load port modules 105 may be box opener/loader to tool standard (BOLTS) interfaces that conform to SEMI standards El 5.1, E47.1, E62, E19.5 or El.9 for 300 mm load ports, front opening or bottom opening boxes/pods and cassettes. The load port modules may be configured as 200 mm wafer/substrate interfaces, 450 mm wafer/substrate interfaces or any other suitable substrate interfaces such as for example larger or smaller semiconductor wafers/substrates, flat panels for flat panel displays, solar panels, reticles or any other suitable object. Although three load port modules 105 are shown in Figs. 1 A, IB, ID, IE, IF, 1G, 1H, any suitable number of load port modules may be incorporated into the front end 101. The load port modules 105 may be configured to receive substrate carriers or cassettes C from an overhead transport system, automatic guided vehicles, person guided vehicles, rail guided vehicles or from any other suitable transport method. The load port modules 105 may interface with the mini-environment 106 through load ports 107. The load ports 107 may allow the passage of substrates between the substrate cassettes and the mini-environment 106.

[0034] The mini-environment 106 may generally include any suitable transfer robot 108, which may incorporate one or more features of the present disclosure described herein. The robot 108 may be a track mounted robot such as that described in, for example, United States Patents 6,002,840 issued on December 14, 1999; 8,419,341 issued April 16, 2013; and 7,648,327 issued on January 19, 2010, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The robot 108 may be substantially similar to that described herein with respect to the back end 103. The mini-environment 106 may provide a controlled, clean zone for substrate transfer between multiple load port modules.

[0035] The at least one vacuum load lock 102, 102A, 102B may be located between and connected to the mini-environment 106 and the back end 103, although the load ports 105 may be coupled substantially directly to the at least one load lock 102, 102A, 102B or the transport chamber 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G where the substrate carrier C is pumped down to a vacuum of the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G and substrates are transferred directly between the substrate carrier C and the load lock or transfer chamber. The substrate carrier C may function as a load lock such that a processing vacuum of the transport chamber extends into the substrate carrier C. Where the substrate carrier C is coupled substantially directly to the load lock through a suitable load port any suitable transfer apparatus may be provided within the load lock or otherwise have access to the carrier C for transferring substrates to and from the substrate carrier C. The term vacuum as used herein may denote a high vacuum such as IxlO'⁵ Torr or below in which the substrates are processed. The at least one load lock 102, 102A, 102B may generally include atmospheric and vacuum slot valves. The slot valves of the load locks 102, 102A, 102B (as well as for the processing stations 130) may provide the environmental isolation employed to evacuate the load lock after loading a substrate from the atmospheric front end and to maintain the vacuum in the transport chamber when venting the lock with an inert gas such as nitrogen. The slot valves of the processing apparatus 100 A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G may be located in the same plane, different vertically stacked planes, or a combination of slot valves located in the same plane and slot valves located in different vertically stacked planes (as described above with respect to the load ports) to accommodate transfer of substrates to and from at least the processing stations 130 and load locks 102, 102A, 102B coupled to the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G. The at least one load lock 102, 102A, 102B (and/or the front end 101) may also include an aligner ALN for aligning a fiducial of the substrate to a desired position for processing or any other suitable substrate metrology equipment. The vacuum load lock may be located in any suitable location of the processing apparatus and have any suitable configuration.

[0036] The vacuum back end 103 may generally include a transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G, one or more processing station(s) 130 and any suitable number of transfer unit modules 104 (also referred to herein as substrate transport apparatus) that includes one or more transfer robots, which may include one or more features of the present disclosure described herein. The transport chamber 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G may have any suitable shape and size that, for example, complies with SEMI standard E72 guidelines. The transfer unit module(s) 104 and the one or more transfer robot will be described below and may be located at least partly within the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G to transport substrates between the load lock 102, 102A, 102B (or between a cassette C located at a load port) and the various processing stations 130. The transfer unit module 104 may be removable from the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G as a modular unit such that the transfer unit module 104 complies with SEMI standard E72 guidelines.

[0037] The processing stations 130 may operate on the substrates through various deposition, etching, or other types of high vacuum processes to form electrical circuitry or other desired structure on the substrates. Typical processes include but are not limited to thin film processes that use a vacuum such as plasma etch or other etching processes, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma vapor deposition (PVD), implantation such as ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing (RTP), dry strip atomic layer deposition (ALD), oxidation/diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy (EPI), wire bonder and evaporation or other thin film processes that use vacuum pressures. The processing stations 130 are communicably connected to the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G in any suitable manner, such as through slot valves SV, to allow substrates to be passed from the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G to the processing stations 130 and vice versa. The slot valves SV of the transport chamber 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G may be arranged to allow for the connection of twin (e.g. more than one substrate processing chamber located within a common housing) or side-by-side process stations 130T1, 130T2, single process stations 1308 and/or stacked process modules/load locks (Figs. 1C and II).

[0038] It is noted that the transfer of substrates to and from the processing station 130, load locks 102, 102A, 102B (or cassette C) coupled to the transfer chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G may occur when one or more arms of the transfer unit module 104 are aligned with a predetermined processing station 130. In accordance with the present disclosure one or more substrates may be transferred to a respective predetermined processing station 130 individually or substantially simultaneously (e.g. such as when substrates are picked/placed from side-by-side or tandem processing stations as shown in Figs. IB, ID and 1H. The transfer unit module 104 may be mounted on a boom arm 143 (see, e.g., Figs. IE, IF, 1H) or linear carriage 144 (see, e.g., Fig. 1C) such as that described in United States patent numbers 10,777,438 titled “Processing Apparatus” and issued on September 15, 2020 and International patent application number PCT/US13/25513 entitled “Substrate Processing Apparatus” and filed on February 11, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0039] Referring to Figs. 2A and 2B, exemplary boom arm configurations, to which the transfer unit module 104 may be coupled, will be described. The boom arm 143 and the transfer unit module 104 may collectively be referred to as a substrate transport apparatus (although, where the transfer unit module 104 is employed without the boom arm 143, the transfer unit module may be referred to as the substrate transport apparatus as noted herein). The boom arm 143 may be a single unarticulated link boom arm 220 (Fig. 2A) or an articulated link boom arm 222 (Fig. 2B).

[0040] With reference to Fig. 2A, the single unarticulated link boom arm 220 is rotatably coupled to a frame or base 201 of the transport apparatus. The base 201 includes a drive section 200 configured to rotate the boom arm 220 about a boom arm rotation axis BSX. The transfer unit module 104 is coupled to a distal end of the boom arm 143 (opposite the boom arm rotation axis BSX). While the transfer unit module 104 is illustrated as having a SCARA arm 210 (or dual SCARA arm 210, 210A) configuration, although the transfer unit module 104 may have any suitable arm configuration including, but not limited to those described herein.

[0041] With reference to Fig. 2B, the articulated link boom arm 220 includes an upper boom link 220 that is rotatably coupled to a frame or base 201 (at the boom arm rotation axis BAX) of the transport apparatus at a proximate end of the upper boom link 220. The other or distal end of the upper boom link 220 is rotatably coupled to a proximate end of a forearm boom link 221 at a boom joint axis of rotation BEX, where the transfer unit module 104 is coupled to and supported by the forearm boom link 221 at a distal end of the forearm boom link 221. The drive section is configured to drive rotation of the upper boom link 220 about axis BSX and the forearm boom link 221 about the axis BEX in any suitable manner. For example, the upper boom link 220 may be driven by a motor of the drive section 20 while the forearm boom link 221 is slaved in rotation (e.g., a band and pulley transmission slaves rotation of the forearm boom link 221 to the frame 201), although the forearm boom link 221 and the upper boom link 220 may each be driven by a respective motor of the drive section 200. While the articulated link boom arm 222 is illustrated with two links, the articulated link boom arm 222 may have any suitable number of links serially coupled to each other. Suitable examples of boom arms that may be employed with the present disclosure are described in United States patent application number 15/215,143 fded on July 20, 2016 and titled “Substrate Processing Apparatus,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0042] While the transfer unit module 104 in Figs. 2A and 2B is illustrated as having a SCARA arm 210 (or dual SCARA arm 210, 210A) configuration, although the transfer unit module 104 may have any suitable transfer arm configuration including, but not limited to those described herein. For example, the transfer unit module 104 may have any other desired arrangement such as a frog-leg arm 216 (Fig. 2C) configuration, a leap-frog arm 217 (Fig. 2D) configuration, a bi- symmetric arm 218 (Fig. 2E) configuration, etc. As another example, referring to Fig. 2F, transfer unit module 104 may be configured as the transfer arm 219. The transfer arm 219 includes at least a first and second articulated SCARA arm 210, 210A where each arm 210, 210A includes an end effector 211 configured to hold at least two substrates SI, S2 side by side in a common transfer plane (each substrate holding location of the end effector 211 shares a common drive for picking and placing the substrates S 1 , S2) where the spacing DX between the substrates S 1, S2 corresponds to a fixed spacing between side by side substrate holding locations. Referring to Figs. 2F and 2G, the SCARA arm 210 (and arm 210A) includes an upper arm 213, a forearm 212, and an end effector 211 that are serially coupled to one another to form an articulated chain of arm links. The end effectors 211 described herein have at least one substrate holding station 21 IS, each substrate holding station 211 S having a predetermined center or end effector reference point 211C. The end effector 211 is configured to hold a substrate S (also referred to herein as a wafer) at the substrate holding station 211 S and transport the substrate within the substrate processing apparatus. At least one of the arm links 213, 212, 211 is driven a respective drive motor of the drive section. One or more of the arm links, such as the forearm 212 and/or end effector 211 may be slaved in rotation by any suitable band and pulley transmission (or other suitable transmission) to effect extension and retraction of the SCARA arm. Suitable examples of transfer arms to which the present disclosure may be employed can be found in United States patents 6,231,297 issued May 15, 2001, 5,180,276 issued January 19, 1993, 6,464,448 issued October 15, 2002, 6,224,319 issued May 1, 2001, 5,447,409 issued September 5, 1995, 7,578,649 issued August 25, 2009, 5,794,487 issued August 18, 1998, 7,946,800 issued May 24, 2011, 6,485,250 issued November 26, 2002, 7,891,935 issued February 22, 2011, 11,569,111 issued on January 31, 2023, 8,752,449 issued on June 17, 2014, 8,918,203 issued on December 23, 2014, and 11,235,935 issued February 1, 2022, and United States patent application numbers 13/293,717 entitled “Dual Arm Robot” and filed on November 10, 2011 and 13/270,844 entitled “Coaxial Drive Vacuum Robot” and filed on October 11, 2011 the disclosures of which are all incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. Suitable examples of band/pulley transmission that may be employed in the present disclosure are described in United States patent numbers 5,682,795 issued on November 4, 1997, 5,778,730 issued on July 14, 1998, and 11,201,073 issued December 14, 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. [0043] Referring to Fig. 2H, another transfer unit module 104 is illustrated. The transfer unit module of Fig. 2H, like the other transfer unit modules described herein, may be coupled to a boom arm 143 (see, e.g., Figs. 1H, 2A and 2B) so as to be transported by the boom arm 143, to a linear carriage 144 (see, e.g., Fig. 1G) so as to be transported by the linear carriage 144, or stationarily fixed to a frame TCF (illustrated in Figs. 1A-1I) of the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (or a frame of the mini-environment 106). Here, the transfer unit module 104 includes a frame 266F, to which a turret 266 is rotatably coupled for rotation about a turret axis of rotation TAX. The drive section 200 includes a turret drive 200R disposed at the turret axis of rotation TAX that drives rotation of the turret 266 in direction T3. The turret 266 includes transfer arm supports 270A, 270B that extend from opposite sides of the turret 266, and to which a respective transfer arm(s) 210, 210A, 216, 217, 218 are coupled. The transfer arm supports 270A, 270B are spaced apart from each other so that the respective transfer arms are supported by the turret 266 in a side by side arrangement, where the side by side transfer arms each include end effector(s) 211 configured to hold at least one substrate side by side in a common transfer plane where the spacing DX between the substrates SI, S2 corresponds to a fixed spacing between side by side substrate holding locations (e.g., in a manner similar to that described with respect to Fig. 2F and as described in United States patent number 10,134,621 issued on November 20, 2018, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

[0044] The turret 266 may include one or more linear motors 200LM that are coupled to a respective transfer arm support 270 A, 270B for moving the respective transfer arm support 270 A, 270B in direction 271A, 271B for effecting adjustment in the distance DX (or independent adjustment of the respective distance DX1, DX2 from the axis TAX) to account for substrate- holding-station to substrate-holding-station variability and the independent automatic wafer centering with respect to the transfer arm(s) held on the respective transfer arm support 270A, 270B and. Here, the turret 266 provides for individual or independent Cartesian adjustment for each respective transfer arm supports 270A, 270B (and the respective transfer arm(s) coupled thereto) to maintain substrate alignment and reduce substrate swap times as position correction effected by the Cartesian (e.g., X-Y) positioning of the end effector 211 of at least one transfer arm coupled to transfer arm support 270A is performed in parallel with the Cartesian positioning of the end effector 211, 21 IDS, 21 IDE, 21 IDT, 211DQ of at least one other transfer arm coupled to transfer arm support 270B. Each transfer arm support 270A, 270B may include a respective Z- axis drive for moving the respective transfer arm(s) held on the transfer arm support 270A, 270B independent of Z axis movement of the respective transfer arms held on the other transfer arm support 270A, 270B. Another Z-axis drive may be provided for moving the turret 266 and any transfer arms coupled thereto as a unit in the Z direction.

[0045] Referring to Figs. 3A-3C, an exemplary vacuum substrate transport apparatus is illustrated as having a base or frame 201 and an articulated arm 333 connected to the base 201. The base 201 may be connected to a frame of the substrate processing apparatus (such as a frame of the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G). The articulated arm 333 has a terminal or shoulder (rotary) joint 309 (e.g., at the shoulder axis SX) about which the articulated arm 333 rotates and extends. The articulated arm 333 may include at least one movable arm link 213, 212 and at least one end effector 211A, 21 IB connected to the at least one movable arm link 213, 212. The articulated arm 333 is illustrated as a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint 309 about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, although the arm may have any suitable configuration such as those described herein. The SCARA arm has more than one arm links 213, 212 and at least one end effector 211 A, 21 IB dependent therefrom. Each arm link 213, 212 being joined in series with the end effector 211 A, 21 IB at a distal end of the SCARA arm. The at least one movable arm link of the SCARA arm includes an upper arm link 213 and a forearm link 212. The proximate end of the upper arm link 213 is rotatably connected to the base 201 at the shoulder joint 309. A proximate end of the forearm link 212 is rotatably connected to a distal end of the upper arm link 213 at an elbow joint 310. The at least one end effector is rotatably connected to a distal end of the forearm link 212 at a wrist joint 311. The at least one end effector 211 A, 21 IB is illustrated as two end effectors 211 A, 21 IB that are each substantially similar to end effector 21 IDS of Fig. 2F; however, the at least one end effector may have any suitable configuration. Each end effector 211 A, 21 IB includes at least one substrate holding station SHS located thereon.

[0046] The at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has an outer housing 213H, 212H containing at least one rotary joint (e.g., a respective one of the shoulder joint 309 and elbow joint 310, the elbow joint 310 being distal from the shoulder joint 309) with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333. As described herein, the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has at least one circulation cooled pocket (also referred to herein as a cavity or pressure chamber ACH1- ACH5, PT1-PT3, which cavity or pressure chambers and other features of the arm sections described herein may be formed in the arm in the manners described herein including, but not limited to, additive manufacturing such as with the additive manufacturing of the respective arm sections) included in the outer housing 213H, 212H. The at least one circulation cooled pocket is separate and distinct from adjacent spaces (such as those holding the vacuum or depressurized environment as illustrated in, e.g., Fig. 3C) in the outer housing 213H, 212H adjacent to the circulation cooled pocket. The at least one circulation cooled pocket is configured to house one or more electromechanical components (such as the motors 200M1, 200M2, 200M3A, 200M3B, encoders 388, 389, 389A, and other electromechanical components as described herein), wherein the one or more electromechanical components are housed within a circulation cooled atmosphere of the circulation cooled pocket separate and distinct from an internal stagnant environment (e.g., the vacuum environment), of the outer housing (213H, 212), disposed against the circulation cooled pocket. The at least one circulation cooled pocket or pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 is located at a rotary joint of the articulated arm 333.

[0047] The circulation cooled pocket or pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5 house and cool one or more of: at least a portion of at least one sensor (e.g., such as drive motor encoder 388, 389, 389A or other suitable sensor), at least stators of an arm drive motor 200M1, 200M2, 200M3A, 200M3B disposed at one or more of the terminal joint (e.g., shoulder joint) and the at least one rotary joint (e.g., at least one of the elbow and wrist joints) of the articulated arm 333, cables CBL (inclusive of, but not limited to) electrical power cables and data communication cables). The pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5 may conductively cool (e.g., through cooling of the articulated arm structure bounding the respective pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5) pulley and/or motor bearings disposed as the respective terminal or rotary joint.

[0048] Each of the outer housing 213H, 212H is an assembly formed of housing parts 370-375 that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within each outer housing 213H, 212H, with each outer housing 213H, 212H inside the vacuum of a sealed chamber (such as the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G). The outer housing 213H, 212H is configured so that the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 forms a pressure vessel (as described herein and illustrated in Fig. 3C), with the axis of rotation (e.g., of the shoulder joint and elbow joint) extending from the pressure vessel. As illustrated in Fig. 3C, the outer housing 213H, 212H is depressurized, at least in part (see pressure vessels or tubes/conduits PT1-PT3), so that walls 213W, 212W of a depressurized part of the outer housing 213H, 212H are subjected to a pressure equilibrium (e.g., the vacuum pressure on one side of the wall 213W, 212W is substantially the same as a vacuum pressure on the other side of the wall 213W, 212W) across a wall thickness WTH. The depressurized part of the outer housing 213H, 212H is configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm 333, and free of differential pressure loads.

[0049] The sealed housing parts 370-375 of the respective outer housing 213H, 212H are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical or fastened joint MJ forming a sealed or pressure load bearing interface (see Fig. 3B) through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing 213H, 212H (e.g., the sealed housing parts share a common pressurized environment where the pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5 in one arm link 213, 212 may receive feed coolant from other pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5 in another arm link 213, 212). The sealed housing parts 370-375 are coupled to each other so as to effect a pressure equilibrium between inside the outer housing 213H, 212H and the vacuum or depressurized environment across exterior walls of the outer housing 213H, 212H (see Fig. 3C - e.g., portions of the inside of the outer housing 213H, 212H are in at substantially the same pressure as the vacuum environment). In Fig. 3B, the sealed interface bisects the at least movable arm link 213, 212 between the end portion 370, 372, 373, 375 and another end portion 370, 372, 373, 375 of the at least one movable arm link 213, 212. In Fig. 3B, the sealed interface bisects an outer wall or shell 213W, 212W of the outer housing 213H, 212H. The sealed interface forms a pressure load bearing compartment, space, or pocket PSBC. The pressure load bearing compartment, space, or pocket PSBC includes more than one pressure load bearing compartment, space, or pocket (e.g., cavity or pressurized chambers or circulation cooled pocket ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3) distributed through the at least one movable arm link 213, 212, where each of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 is in communication with each other pressurized chamber ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3. In at least Fig. 3C, at least one pressurized chamber ACH1- ACH5, PT1-PT3 (also referred to herein as circulation cooled pockets) in one of the at least one movable arm link 212, 213 communicates with another pressurized chamber ACH1-ACH5, PT1- PT3 in another of the at least one movable arm link 212, 213 of the articulated arm 333 through the at least one rotary joint (e.g., rotary joint such as the elbow joint/axis) so that the sealed atmosphere ATM is shared or otherwise communicates between the at least one pressurized chamber ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 of the one of the at least one movable arm link 212, 213 and the other pressurized chamber ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 of the other of the at least one movable arm link 212, 213 through the rotatory joint.

[0050] Fig. 3C is an exemplary illustration of the sealed communication between each of the housing parts where the pressurized environment (compared to the vacuum or depressurized environment of the chamber in which the substrate transport arm is disposed) within the sealed atmosphere extends from the base 201 to the wrist housing part 375 with a minimized volume that minimizes the exposure of the seal boundaries of the sealed atmosphere to the vacuum environment. Where ferro-fluidic seals FFS are employed between the drive shaft 200M1D, 200M2D and the respective motor housing, at the shoulder axis SX and elbow axis EX, the motor stators and motor rotors (see Fig. 3D) may both be disposed in the atmospheric environment. Where, such as at the wrist axis WX, ferro-fluidic seals are not employed the stator is isolated from the vacuum by an isolation wall (as described herein so that one or more of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 houses at least stators of an arm drive motor disposed at the rotary joint) and the rotor is located within the vacuum environment.

[0051] At least one sealed housing part 370, 372, 373, 375 is an end portion or coupling of the at least one movable arm link 213, 212. The at least one sealed housing part 370, 372, 373, 375 houses the at least one rotary joint 309, 310, 311 (or at least a portion thereof), wherein the at least one rotary joint 309, 310, 311 is included within the at least one sealed housing part 370, 372, 373, 375 of the at least one movable arm link 213, 212. For example, referring also to Figs. 4A-4E, the movable arm link 213, 212 may be a reconfigurable arm link 213R, 212R having a modular composite arm link casing or housing 213H, 212H, formed of link case modules rigidly coupled to each other. The rigidly coupled link case modules may include end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 (also referred to herein as link case end modules or housing parts) connected by at least one central arm section 371, 374 (also referred to herein as interchangeable link case extension modules or extruded arm casing components) having a predetermined characteristic determining a length OAL of the movable arm link 213, 212. The at least one central arm section 371, 374 is selectable, for connection to the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 and forms the reconfigurable arm link 213R, 212R, from a number of different central arm sections (interchangeable link case extension modules) 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn each with a different corresponding predetermined characteristic determining a corresponding different length of the movable arm link 213, 212, so as to selectably set the modular composite arm link casing 213H, 212H and reconfigure arm link 213R, 212R to a predetermined arm link length OAL from a number of predetermined arm link lengths OALn (each different length OALn corresponding to the different lengths CALl-CALn of the different central arm sections 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn).

[0052] As an example, each of the upper arm link 213 and forearm link 212 are modular arm links having a respective central arm section 371, 374 and respective end couplings 370-375. For example, the upper arm link 213 includes a proximate end coupling 370 that forms the proximate end 213E1 of the upper arm link 213. A central arm section 371 is coupled to the proximate end coupling 370 in any suitable manner, such as with any suitable removable fasteners. A distal end coupling 372 is coupled to the central arm section 371, opposite the proximate end coupling 370, so as to form the distal end 213E2 of the upper arm 213. Similarly, the forearm link 212 includes a proximate end coupling 373 that forms a proximate end 212E1 of the forearm link 212. A central arm section 374 is coupled to the proximate end coupling 370 in any suitable manner, such as with any suitable removable fasteners. A distal end coupling 375 is coupled to the central arm section 374, opposite the proximate end coupling 373, so as to form a distal end 212E2 of the forearm link 212.

[0053] The central arm sections 371, 374, as described herein, have a closed cross section (e.g., closed box shape). For example, the central arm section 371, 374 comprises a monolithic tube frame 410F that may have any suitable cross section. In the examples illustrated in Figs. 4A-4E the tube frame 41 OF is shown as having a rectangular cross section however, the cross section may be square, circular, ovoid, “I” beam shaped, open channel “C” or “U” shaped, etc., or any combination thereof. The central arm section 371, 374 is mechanically fastened to each of the (respective) end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 to form the modular composite arm link casing 213H, 212H. The central arm section 371, 374 is mechanically fastened with mechanical fastener joints (including removable mechanical fasteners as will be described herein) to each of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 to form the modular composite arm link casing 213H, 212H

[0054] The tube frame 41 OF includes end flanges 540, 541 configured for coupling any one of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 to the tube frame 410F. The flanges 540, 541 may be integrally formed with the tube frame 41 OF or coupled to the tube frame 41 OF in any suitable manner. For example, the flanges 540, 541 may be forged, cast, or molded with the tube frame 41 OF; although the flanges 540, 541 may be coupled to the tube frame by welding, mechanical fasteners, adhesive, friction fit (e.g., shrink fits, press fits, etc.), clamps or in any other suitable manner. The end flanges 540, 541 may include locating features (such as a hole 545 and a slot 546) and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may include mating locating features (e.g., such as pins 547 or other protrusions that engage the locating features of the end flanges 540, 541 - see Fig. 5C) that orient/locate each of the end couplings 370, 372 of the upper arm link 213 (or with respect to the forearm link 212, the end couplings 373, 375) to the central arm section 371 (or with respect to the forearm link 212, the central arm section 374) and to each other in at least two degrees of freedom. The locating features and mating locating features may be asymmetric so that the coupling is poka-yoke (e.g., the asymmetric locating features substantially avoid assembly errors when the end couplings are coupled to a respective central arm section). Referring also to Fig. 8A, the locating features may include protrusions 4100 and recesses 4110 that are formed into the central arm sections 371, 374 and end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 where the protrusions 4100 and recesses 4110 are configured to locate the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 relative to a respective central arm section 371, 374 at a predetermined location. For example, the central arm section 371, 374 may include recess(es) 4110 and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may include protrusion(s) 4100 where the recess 4110 receives a respective protrusion 4100 to locate the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 relative to the respective central arm section 371, 374 at the predetermined location, although the end couplings may include the recess and the central arm sections may include the protrusion. The recesses and protrusions may be continuous and extend around an entire peripheral edge of the respective end coupling and central arm section; although the recesses and protrusions may be discontinuous so as to extend around predetermined portions of the peripheral edge of the respective end coupling and central arm section. The protrusions and recesses may be employed with one or more pins/holes/slots so that the pins/holes/slot define a directional assembly orientation (e.g., which surface of the end coupling is the top, bottom, etc.) of the end coupling relative to the central arm section while the recess and protrusion locate the end coupling relative to the central arm section in the predetermined position. The end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be coupled to a respective central arm section 371, 374 without locating features where the end coupling and central arm section assembly is secondarily machined to predetermined dimensional tolerances from one end coupling to the opposite end coupling. [0055] The end flanges 540, 541 may include fastener couplings 560-563 and the end couplings

370, 372, 373, 375 include mating fastener couplings 560A-563A that together effect coupling of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 to the central arm section 371, 374. For example, the fastener couplings 560-563 and mating fastener couplings 560A-563 A may be in the form of threaded holes and apertures into which bolts/screws are inserted or any other removable fastener system. Referring also to Fig. 8B, and as noted herein, the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 is illustrated as being coupled to the central arm section 371, 374 with clamps 4200 where each clamp engages both the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 and the central arm section 371, 374 so as to form a compression coupling between the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 and the central arm section

371, 374. Referring also to Fig. 8C, and as noted herein, the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 is illustrated as being coupled to the central arm section 371, 374 by a friction fit (e.g., shrink fits, press fits, etc.) where a protrusion 4300 on the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 frictionally engages a recess 4310 (or internal or external surface of) on the central arm section 371, 374 (or vice versa) so as to couple the end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 to the central arm section 371, 374. The recess 4310 and protrusion 4300 may be substantially similar to the recess 4110 and protrusion 4100 described above but for having a friction fit (also known as a press fit or interference fit which is a fastening between two parts achieved by friction after the parts are forcibly pushed together - there is no clearance between parts being assembled)(Fig. 8C) rather than a sliding fit (e.g., the end coupling and central arm section slide easily relative to one another during assembly - there is clearance between the parts being assembled) (as in Fig. 8A).

[0056] The central arm sections 371, 374 may have a length CAL that with the respective end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 defines an overall length OAL (from j oint center to j oint center - see Fig. 4C) of the respective upper arm link 213 or forearm link 212. The articulated arm 333 (and other arms described herein) may be configured/re-configured by changing a length CAL of the central arm sections 371, 374. The central arm sections 371, 374 may be manufactured as described herein so as to have different predetermined lengths CAL, CALl-CALn. Each of the central arm sections 371, 374 may be selectable from a number of central arm sections 371 Al- 371 An, 374Bl-374Bn where “n” is a whole number signifying an upper limit to the number of central arm sections. Each of the selectable central arm sections 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn may have a length CAL l-CALn that is different from a length of another of the selectable central arm sections 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn. Here, selection of a selectable arm section 371A1- 371 An, 374Bl-374Bn for installation in a respective upper arm link 213 or forearm link 212 defines, together with the respective end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 a variable (i.e., through selection of a central arm section 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn) length of the upper arm link 213 or forearm link 212 that is freely selectable (e.g., independent of drive transmissions through the arm) bespoke to any given transfer chamber configuration (e.g., shape and size). As may be realized, the overall length OAL of one or more of the upper arm link 213 and the forearm link 212 may be increased or decreased through selection of the selectable central arm sections 371 Al- 371 An, 374Bl-374Bn.

[0057] Referring also to Fig. 7A, one or more of the central arm sections 371, 374 may be a telescoping central arm section 510T (e.g., arm portions of the telescoping arm portions slide one into another to change a length in a manner similar to that of a segmented optical telescope). The telescoping central arm section 510T may include a first frame portion 510T1 and a second frame portion 510T2. The first frame portion 510T1 is shaped and sized to receive the second frame portion 510T2 in a sliding fit so that first frame portion 510T1 or the second frame portion 510T2 linearly slides in a longitudinal direction relative to another of the first frame portion 510T1 or the second frame portion 510T2 to increase or decrease the length CAL of the telescoping central arm section 510T. The telescoping central arm section 510T may include any suitable removable or non-removable fasteners 4000 (e.g., screws, bolts, pins, clips, welding, etc.) to lock movement of the first frame portion 510T1 relative to the second frame portion 510T2 so as to set/fix the length CAL of the telescoping central arm section 510T. Where the fasteners are removable the length of the arm links may be adjusted as desired to conform with additional or removed substrate processing modules, transfer chamber portions (e.g., the arm reach may be increased or decreased as desired). [0058] Referring to Fig. 7B, one or more of the central arm sections 371, 374 may be a segmented arm section 510S, where each segment 4020 has a fixed length CAS and are coupled to each other in an abutting manner (e.g., end to end) so that when coupled together end to end the segments have the length CAL of the central arm section 371, 374. The fixed length CAS of the different segments 4020 may be the same, although the fixed lengths of the segments 4020 may be different.

[0059] The different length central arm sections 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn may be manufactured in any suitable manner from any suitable material as noted herein. For example, the at least one interchangeable central arm section 371, 374 and each of the number of different interchangeable central arm sections 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn have a box shape cross section 598 corresponding thereto, and the predetermined characteristic is that the interchangeable central arm section 371, 374 and each of the number of different interchangeable central arm sections 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn have a different corresponding length CAL, CALl-CALn.

[0060] The box shaped cross section 598 may provide for a tubular shape of the tube frame 41 OF and may facilitate the manufacturing of the central arm sections 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374B1- 374Bn with lower cost and/or high volume manufacturing methods. For example, the central arm sections 371, 374, 371 Al -371 An, 374Bl-374Bn may be manufactured by extrusion or casting (e.g., so as to form an extrusion member with a box shaped cross section 598) which reduces machining requirements (e.g., compared to conventional arm links which are machined from billets of material). Other manufacturing methods that may be employed include but are not limited to additive manufacturing, conventional machining, folded and welded sheet metal, forging, and injection molding. The tubular form of the tube frame 41 OF, which may be achieved through the above-noted manufacturing process, effects an extrusion member with a monolithic box section 598 that may be significantly stiffer when compared to the conventionally machined arm links noted above. The stiffer box shaped cross section 598 may provide for longer arm lengths and manufacture of the tube frame 41 OF with thinner side walls 510W than would otherwise be achieved with conventionally machined arm links, which may reduce weight of the arm links and may provide for increased operating speeds of the substrate transport apparatus 130. [0061] The corresponding box shape cross section 598 is sized and shaped commensurate to the different corresponding lengths CAL, CALl-CALn so as to maintain a predetermined stiffness (end to end) for each different interchangeable central arm section 371, 371 Al -371 An, 374, 374Bl-374Bn, although the corresponding box shape cross section 598 may be sized and shaped commensurate to the different corresponding length CAL, CALl-CALn so as to maintain a predetermined stiffness (end to end) for each different selectable predetermined arm link length OAL, OALn. For example, with respect to the predetermined stiffnesses, as the length CAL, CALl-CALn of the central arm section 371, 371Al-371An, 374, 374Bl-374Bn increases the thickness THK (Fig. 5E) of one or more of the walls 510W of the box shaped cross section 598 may also increase. The thickness THK of one or more of the walls 510W may be tapered along the respective length CAL, CALl-CALn with the wall being thickest at a proximate end of the arm link (relative to the shoulder axis SX) and thinnest at a distal end of the arm link (relative to the shoulder axis SX; e.g., considering the arm link 212, the wall thickness may be greatest adjacent the elbow axis AX and thinnest adjacent the wrist axis WX). Stiffening ribs may be formed in the box shaped cross section 598 during, for example, extrusion of the box shaped cross section 598. The material of the at least one interchangeable central arm section 371, 374, and each of the number of different interchangeable central arm sections 371 Al-371 An, 374Bl-374Bn may have a higher stiffness (spring modulus) than the material of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375.

[0062] The modular arm link configuration may simplify manufacture of the arm link ends. For example, with conventional arm links, the ends of the arm links to which the arm pulleys and pulley shafts are coupled are machined from a billet of material with the central part of the arm as a unit. In accordance with the present disclosure, the modular form of the arm links may provide for separate manufacturing techniques to be employed for the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 and the central arm sections 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn. For example, while the central arm sections 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn may be extruded (or manufactured with other methods as noted herein), the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be manufactured by casting, forging, additive manufacturing, conventional machining, and injection molding so that the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 are cast or forged in near net shape (i.e., the initial production of an end coupling is very close to the final (net) shape of the end coupling, reducing the need for surface finishing) so as to reduce machining of and cost of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375, which in turn may reduce overall costs of the substrate transport apparatus 130. The end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be provided as apre-assembled/manufactured arm joint 4700 where at least a portion of one transmission member (such as at least a pulley of one or more of transmission members 490, 492, 493, 494, 495) is preinstalled in the pre-assembled arm joint 4700. Pre-assembling the arm joints 4700 may reduce manufacturing costs and reduce lead time for transport arm assembly.

[0063] One or more of the central arm section 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be constructed of metallic components such as, for example, one or more of aluminum, stainless steel, Inconel or other metallic alloys, or any other suitable material, although one or more of the central arm section 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be constructed of any suitable material including non-metallic materials including, but not limited to, ceramics, polymers, composites, and carbon fiber. One or more of the central arm section 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be constructed using high-volume manufacturing methods (e.g., molding, casting, forging, extruded, etc.) in one or more of the near net shape or a rough shape (which requires more extensive secondary machining operations than near net shape casting, forging, molding, etc.), noting that an interior of the one or more of the central arm section 371, 374, 371Al-371An, 374Bl-374Bn and the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 may be forged, cast, etc. to near net shape while an exterior is forged, cast, etc. to a rough shape. The secondary machining operations may include, but are not limited to conventional machining, cutting, grinding, electromagnetic discharge machining, etc. Examples, of arm components that have both as formed (e.g., cast, forged, extruded, etc.) surface(s) and machined surface(s)/features are illustrated in Figs. 5-7. Fig. 5 illustrates an end coupling 370, 373 as formed (e.g., in near net shape or rough shaped) and a corresponding finished end coupling 370, 373 with machined (using methods as noted herein) surfaces/features. Fig. 6 illustrates an end coupling 372, 375 as formed (e.g., in near net shape or rough shaped) and a corresponding finished end coupling 372, 375 with machined (using methods as noted herein) surfaces/features. Fig. 7 illustrates a central arm section 371, 374 as formed (e.g., in near net shape or rough shaped) and a corresponding finished central arm section 371, 374 with machined (using methods as noted herein) surfaces/features.

[0064] As can be seen in Figs. 4A-4C, each of the upper arm link 213 and forearm link 212 has a respective height AH. The height AHI of the forearm link 212 may be less than the height AH2 of the upper arm link 213 (or vice versa), although the height AHI of the forearm link 212 may be substantially the same as the height AH2 of the upper arm link 213. The respective heights AHI, AH2 may depend on a number of pressure vessels or tubes PT1-PT3 (as described herein - see Figs. 3B, 3C, and 4E) extending through the arm link or a position of the arm link in the serially coupled arm links (e.g., where the height of the arm links decrease the further away from the shoulder axis SX).

[0065] Referring again to Figs. 3A-3C, the transport arm may include at least one end effector 211 A, 21 IB (also referred to herein as a substrate holder). For exemplary purposes two end effectors 211 A, 21 IB are illustrated, but as noted herein, the transport arm may have any suitable number of end effectors, each end effector having any suitable configuration for holding one or more substrates. Each of the end effector 211A, 211B is rotatably and separately joined to ajoint at a common end of the forearm link 212 so that each end effector 211 A, 21 IB rotates relative to the forearm link 212 about the joint, or a common axis of rotation formed thereby (see, e.g., the wrist axis or joint WX).

[0066] Referring Again to Figs. 3A-3C, 3E, and 4E, the outer housing 213H, 212H of the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 is configured so that the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 forms a pressure vessel, with the respective axis (or axes) of rotation SX, EX, WX extending from the pressure vessel. For example, each of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 and arm central arm sections 371, 374 include at least one atmospheric or pressurized chambers (also referred to herein as pressure vessels, or pressure load bearing compartments, spaces, or pockets) ACH1- ACH5, PT1-PT3 that are sealed in any suitable manner from the sealed or vacuum (e.g., depressurized) environment ofthe transport chamber 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (or other chamber holding a process vacuum) in which the transport arm is disposed. For example, at the shoulder axis SX and elbow axis EX, the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH3 may be sealed at least in part by cap plates 386 and respective annular seals 386S (such as O-rings or other suitable static seals) and one or more ferro-fluidic seals FFS. At the wrist axis, which is exposed to higher temperatures than the elbow and shoulder axes, the pressurized chamber(s) ACH4, ACH5 are sealed at least in part by cap plates 387, 387E, 387EA (see also Fig. 3E and 3F) and respective annular seals 387S.

[0067] As illustrated in Fig. 3B, 3C and 4E, the respective pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH2 of the end couplings 370, 372 of movable arm link 213 are communicably coupled to each other by at least one pressure tube PT1. The shoulder axis of rotation SX of the movable arm link 213 extends from the shoulder pressure chamber ACH1 to an interior of the base 201 through, for example, a hollow drive shaft 200M1D of a direct drive shoulder motor 200M1 (also referred to as a brushless electrical machine) of the drive section 200 (which direct drive shoulder motor 200M1 is directly coupled to and directly drives the movable arm link 213 about the shoulder axis SX). The at least one sealed housing part 370 houses at least a portion of the brushless electrical machine 200M1 (e.g., the pressure chamber ACH1 houses at least stators of the direct drive shoulder motor 200M1 at the terminal joint). The elbow axis of rotation EX of the movable arm link 212 extends from the pressure chamber ACH2 of elbow end coupling 372 to the pressure chamber ACH3 of the elbow end coupling 373 through, for example, a hollow drive shaft 200M2D of a direct drive elbow motor 200M2 of the drive section 200 (which direct drive elbow motor 200M2 (also referred to herein as a brushless electrical machine) is directly coupled to and directly drives the movable arm link 212 about the elbow axis EX). The at least one sealed housing part 372, 373 houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine 200M2 (e.g., the pressure chamber ACH2 houses at least stators of the direct drive shoulder motor 200M2 at the rotary joint). The pressure chambers ACH4, ACH5 of the wrist end coupling 375 are respectively communi cably coupled to the pressure chamber ACH3 of the end coupling 373 by a respective at least one pressure tubes PT2, PT3.

[0068] Referring to Figs. 3D, 4E, and 8C, the pressure tubes PT1-PT3 are sealed against respective end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 in any suitable manner. For example, each end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 has at least one aperture 555, 555A, 555B into which at least part of a respective pressure tube PT1-PT3 is inserted The apertures 555, 555A, 555B may be arranged in a row or in a two-dimensional array. Each pressure tube PT1-PT3 may include at least one annular seal 801 A, 80 IB (such as an O-ring or any other suitable static seal) that interfaces both an outer surface of the pressure tube PT1-PT3 and the surface of the respective aperture 555, 555A, 555B to, at least in part, seal the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 from the vacuum environment. Insertion of the pressure tube PT1-PT3 into the aperture 555, 555A, 555B compresses the annular seals 801 A, 80 IB sealing the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 from the vacuum environment. Each pressure tube PT1-PT3 may include an annular flange 810 and an annular seal 811 abutting the annular flange 810. With the pressure tube PT1-PT3 inserted into the aperture 555, 555A, 555B the annular flange 810 compresses the annular seal 811 against the machined surface of the respective end coupling 370, 372, 373, 375 to seal the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 from the vacuum environment, where the compressive force against the annular seal 811 is effected from the fastening of the end couplings 370, 372, 373, 375 to the respective central arm section 371, 374. The pressure tubes PT1-PT2 may include both or any suitable combination of the annular flange 810 and the annular seals 801A, 801B, 811.

[0069] Each pressure tube PT1-PT3 has a minimized interior volume to minimize the surface area, of the respective arm link, that is exposed to the vacuum environment (and pressure differential created thereby). At least one of the pressure tubes effects one or more of electrical power transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere ATM of the articulated arm 333 and data communication throughout the sealed atmosphere ATM of the articulated arm 333. For example, the hollow drive shafts 200M1D, 200M2D and the pressure tubes PT1-PT3 are configured for the passage of one or more of cables CBL (the cables being inclusive of, but not limited to, electrical or power cables and data communication cables/buses (e.g., fiber optic, coaxial, twisted pair, etc.), cooling (inlet or supply) fluid tubes CLTB, and exhaust (outlet or return) fluid tubes EXL from, for example the base 201 to the wrist axis WX (e.g., the wrist end coupling 375) or any other location (e.g., ACH1- ACH5) within the articulated arm 333. The cooling fluid within the pressurized chambers ACH1 - ACH5, PT1-PT3 may be, but is not limited to, controlled air, any suitable inert gas (such as nitrogen, etc.), and/or any suitable liquid. One or more of the pressure tubes PT1-PT3 may be sized so that the one or more of the cables CBL, cooling fluid tubes CLTB, and exhaust fluid tubes EXL extending there through occupy the internal volume of the pressure tube PT1-PT3 leaving as little empty space within the pressure tube PT1-PT3 as possible.

[0070] Examples of the inlet and outlet cooling fluid tubes CLTB, EXL are illustrated in Figs. 13A, 13B. In Fig. 13A the inlet cooling fluid tube CLTB is substantially continuous within the movable arm link 212L so as to form both the inlet and outlet lines (e.g., as a circulating fluid tube). In Fig. 13B, at least one of the pressure tubes PT1-PT3 effects passage of fluid tubes CLTB, ELX throughout the sealed atmosphere ATM of the articulated arm 333 (as described herein). Here, for example, the fluid inlet is formed by cooling fluid tube CLTB and the outlet is formed by exhaust fluid tube EXL where the fluid outlet or return is separate and distinct from the fluid inlet or supply. Here, the fluid may be supplied to the pressurized chamber ACH4 (although fluid may be supplied to any one of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5 in a similar manner) by the cooling fluid tube CLTB (which passes through the pressure tube PT3A) so as to pressurize the pressurized chamber to a pressure that is greater than that of the exhaust fluid tube EXL (which passes through the pressure tube PT3B). The pressure may be provided by a pressurized fluid source of a facility in which the processing apparatus is employed, where the pressurized fluid source provides fluid at a pressure of about 60 psi, although the pressure may be greater or less than about 60 psi, at a flow rate of about 29 CFM (821 1pm), although the flow rate may be greater or less than about 29 CFM, and at a temperature of less than or equal to about 28°C (although the outlet temperature may be greater or less than about 28°C). The difference in pressure provides fluid flow from the pressurized chamber ACH4 to (and through) the exhaust fluid tube EXL. The flow of fluid through the tubes CLTB, EXL, and the pressure chamber ACH4 (or any of the other pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5) may be a forced fluid flow (e.g., such as effected by a fan rather than pressure differential). One or more pressure tubes PT1-PT3 may be employed for the transfer (e.g., inlet or outlet) of fluid only, where the pressure tube PT1-PT3 has a minimized size for providing a predetermined volumetric flow rate of fluid to effect, for example, cooling of transport arm components. For exemplary purposes only, at the inlet of the pressurized chamber ACH4 (and pressure chamber ACH5), the fluid may have a temperature of about 40°C, an air velocity of about 151 m/s (although the air velocity may be greater or less than about 151 m/s), and a flow rate of about 8.5 CFM (2391pm) (although the flow rate may be greater or less than about 8.5 CFM). At the outlet of the pressurized chamber ACH4, the fluid may have a temperature of about 51 °C (although the outlet temperature may be greater or less than about 51 °C). The pressure tubes PT1-PT3 may be sized so that the pressure in each chamber ACH1, ACH2, ACH3, ACH4, ACH5 is substantially the same, although the pressure tubes may be sized so that upstream (relative to fluid flow) have a higher pressure than downstream chambers (e.g., pressure chamber ACH1 has a higher pressure than pressure chamber ACH2, pressure chamber ACH2 has a higher pressure than press chamber ACH3, etc.). At least one of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 effects fluid transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere ATM of the articulated arm 333. Fluid may be exhausted from the articulated arm 333 through the frame 201 (which may be referred to as a lift column where the frame forms a carriage that is moved vertically to raise or lower the arm 333). For example, the exhaust cooling fluid tube CLTB (see Fig. 13C may extend through the drive shaft 200M1D, through the frame 201, and to any suitable fluid receptacle/reservoir (such as one of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3) so as to provide or infeed cooling fluid to the fluid receptacle/reservoir. As illustrated in Fig. 13C, the cooling fluid tubes CLTB may be coiled, in a manner similar to that of a clock spring, about one or more of the joints at the rotational axes SX, EX so as to accommodate rotation of the arm links 213, 212. The exhaust cooling fluid tube CLTB may extend to one of the fluid receptacle/reservoir (such as a pressurized chamber at the wrist axis WX or any other suitable location within the articulated arm 333) to provide cooling fluid, where the cooling fluid is exhausted from the articulated arm 333 through at least another of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 (i.e., without passing through a flexible tube such that the at least one of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3 forms the exhaust cooling fluid passage).

[0071] In the above manner, the central arm sections 371, 374, but for the minimized volume of the pressure tube(s) PT1-PT3, may be depressurized to the process (high) vacuum of the transfer chamber so as to effect a pressure equilibrium between the depressurized environments internal to the articulated arm 333 and the depressurized environment external to the articulated arm 333 within the transport chamber 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (or other chamber holding a depressurized environment).

[0072] Referring to Figs. 3A, 3C, and 3E, the wrist axis WX may include one or more radial flux motors 200M3A, 200M3B (also referred to as brushless electrical machines) having respective stator(s) 391, rotor(s) 392, and an output or drive shaft 300M3AD, 300M3BD coupled to the respective rotor 392. The at least one sealed housing part 375 (e.g., the pressurized chamber(s) ACH4, ACH5 of the sealed housing part 375) houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machines 200M3A, 200M3B. The end effector 211, 211A, 21 IB is coupled to the respective drive shaft 300M3AD, 300M3BD for rotation about the wrist axis WX. Each stator 391 of the motors 200M3A, 200M3B may be sealed, from the vacuum environment in which the transport arm operates, by any suitable isolation wall 395. Suitable examples of radial flux motors and isolation walls that can be incorporated into the wrist axis WX are described in United States patent numbers 9,948,155 issued April 17, 2018 and 9,186,799 issued on November 17, 2015, the disclosures of which is incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. As an example, referring to motor 200M3A (motor 200M3B is substantially similar) the stator 391 (and the stator coils thereof) is disposed within the pressure chamber ACH4, where the pressure chamber ACH4 is sealed by the cap plates 387 (and the respective seals 387S) and the isolation wall 395. The isolation wall 395 is in substantial contact with the cap plates 387 where any suitable static seal(s) (such as O-rings) 395S are compressed (at least by the pressure differential between the atmospheric and vacuum pressures) between isolation wall 395 and the cap plates 387. The isolation wall 395 may be a thin membrane mounted to or otherwise coincident with the pole or core of the stator 391 so that the stator substantially supports the isolation wall. The isolation wall 395 may be structurally bonded to, for example, the inner diameter of (or any other suitable portion of) the stator 391 in any suitable manner using any suitable bonding agent so that the isolation wall 395 is integrated with (e.g. forms a unitary structure or assembly with) the stator 391 and/or depends from the stator 391, although the isolation wall 395 may be a coating formed on or otherwise affixed to the pole or core of the stator 391. The isolation wall 395 may extend beyond the stator 391 to interface with the cap plates 387. As can be seen in Fig. 3E, the isolation wall 395 may not support any additional structural loading other than the pressure differential loading between the vacuum and atmospheric environments (i.e. the pressure differential loading is shared between the isolation wall and stator).

[0073] The motor 200M3 A, 200M3B may have rotors that employ magnets, which can be affected by gases used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The motor rotors of the elbow motor 200M2 and shoulder motor 200M1 are sealed from the vacuum environment by at least ferro- fluidic seals FFS. For the wrist location, which is subject to temperatures that may be too great for the use of ferro-fluidic seals, the rotor magnets 392M of the rotor 392 are encapsulated to isolate or otherwise seal the magnets 392M (and rotor 392) from the vacuum environment and pressure chambers ACH1-ACH5. For example, at least a portion of the rotor 392 is encapsulated with a hermetically sealed, non-ferrous housing 392H that seals the magnets 392M from the vacuum environment substantially without degradation of motor performance. The non-ferrous housing 392H may extend over, so as to encapsulate, the magnets 392M and be hermetically sealed to the rotor 392 in any suitable manner (such as by any suitable vacuum compatible sealant, adhesive, epoxy, etc.).

[0074] One or more sensors may be disposed within the articulated arm 333. The one or more sensors (such as encoders or other suitable sensors) are housed in one or more of the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5, PT1-PT3. For example, referring to Figs. 3B-3E, each of the direct drive motors 200M1, 200M2, 200M3A, 200M3B include respective encoders 388, 389, 389A. The at least one sealed housing part 372, 375 houses at least part of the respective encoders 388, 389, 389A. The encoders 388, 389, 389A include any suitable read head ENH and any suitable encoder track(s) or scale(s) ENT (e.g., one or more of absolute position track/scale and incremental track/scale). At the elbow and shoulder joints of the transport arm, the encoder 388 may be exposed to temperatures that are about 70°C and below. The encoder may be an optical encoder, a magnetic encoder, or any other suitable encoder configured for operation in a vacuum environment. At the shoulder and elbow joints the read head ENH is disposed in the respective pressurized chamber ACH1, ACH2 while the encoder track(s) ENT are disposed in the process vacuum (although, the encoder tracks may also be isolated from the vacuum environment in a manner similar to that described herein). Suitable examples of encoders that may be employed in the present disclosure at least at the wrist and shoulder joints are described in United States Patent number 10,742,092 issued on August 11, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0075] As an example, referring also to Figs. 3F-3H, the encoder track ENT is disposed on or otherwise coupled to the motor rotor 200MR of the respective motor 200M1, 200M2. The encoder track ENT defines at least two scales to measure position of the rotor 200MR. The at least two scales include an incremental position scale and an absolute position scale. The absolute position scale may include additional position information required to uniquely locate the rotor 200MR position. Absolute position encoders are generally able to provide a unique location without any referencing motion. Typically, such encoders may require several scales, where each scale may be read by an independent sensor system. The number of scales may dictate the number of bits of the absolute position encoder and consequently its resolution. Where a digital absolute position scale may be provided, the digital absolute position may be read by a number of independent sensors each facing its respective scale. Each sensor may provide a state of one respective bit of a word that defines a digital position. A classical example of a pattern 905, referred to as Gray code with 5 bits is shown in Fig. 9. Each row of the pattern 905 includes a 5 bit word that indicates an absolute position, which may be expressed as an angular position in degrees. S4 represents the most significant bit of each 5 bit word and each word differs from the next one by only one single bit, typical of a Gray code sequence.

[0076] An absolute position may be obtained by utilizing a single digital scale attached to the rotor 200MR. In order to read an absolute digital position, a set of sensors (e.g., read head ENH) may be placed facing the absolute position scale at a certain interval relative to each other. The number of sensors may determine the number of bits for the absolute position. The use of a single scale design is advantageous since it allows for a smaller footprint of the absolute encoder design. The bit pattern sequence of the single scale may also have the form of a Gray code, that is, where only one bit changes at a time.

[0077] Fig. 10 shows an example of single scale 1005 for indicating absolute position. The single scale 1005 has a pattern that mimics the pattern shown for S4 in Fig. 9. By locating five sensors SO 1010, SI 1015, S2 1020, S3 1025, S4 1030 around the scale 1005 in specific locations, the sensors generate the sequence of FIG. 9 as the pattern rotates, thus generating absolute position indications for an attached rotor. It is important to understand that a scale may be constructed that utilizes any number of bits suitable for providing a desired positional resolution. The single absolute scale may be utilized in combination with an incremental scale, for example 1035 in Fig. 10 and an incremental scale sensor 1040.

[0078] The single absolute scale 1005 of Fig. 10 may be used alone to simultaneously generate a digital absolute position and an interpolated incremental position within the resolution of the digital absolute position. The sensors may be capable of providing digital or analog outputs. Where the sensors may be capable of providing analog outputs, a digital output pattern of an absolute position scale may be generated from the analog output signals by setting thresholds for determining when a bit of the pattern changes. At the same time, the analog value of the changing signal may be measured and the changing analog values may be utilized to determine a position with additional resolution than that provided by the single absolute scale. For example, a digital signal processor may be utilized to measure the outputs of the sensors, sensing both the digital output of the sensors according to the set thresholds as well as the instantaneous analog output of the sensor that is undergoing a single bit change. This instantaneous analog output may be used to generate the interpolated position between the current digital absolute position and the next one.

[0079] At the wrist joint, as can be seen best in Figs. 3E and 3F the encoder 389, 389A may be subject to temperatures of substrate processes (such as those described herein) above about 70°C, which may be at the operational limit of optical encoders. At the wrist joint the encoder 389, 389A is a magnetic encoder where the magnetic encoder scale ENT (which may have a Gray code configuration with absolute and incremental scales similar to those described with respect to Figs. 9 and 10) is mounted to the motor rotor 392 and the encoder read head ENH is mounted within the wrist motor housing (e.g., within pressurized chamber ACH4, ACH5). Any suitable non-ferrous isolation wall 399 is disposed between the read head ENH and the vacuum environment so as to isolate the read head ENH from the vacuum environment (and at least in part, seal the pressurized chamber ACH4, ACH5 from the vacuum environment). Locating the encoder read head ENH within the pressurized chamber provides for magnetic flux from the magnetic encoder scale ENT to be sensed by the read head ENH behind the isolation wall 399 and locates the encoder 389, 389A electronics in an atmospheric environment that can be actively cooled (e.g., as described herein, such as by at least cooling fluid tubes CLTB).

[0080] Referring also to Fig. 3G and 3H, the pressurized chambers ACH4, ACH5 are sealed, at least in part, by cap plates 387, 387E, 387EA (and the respective seals 387S) (see Figs. 3E and 3F). The encoder isolation wall 399 may be integrally formed with the respective cap plate 387E, 387EA as a single unitary or monolithic member. As can be seen in Fig. 3F, to facilitate the sealing of the respective pressurized chambers ACH4, ACH5 with the cap plates 387, 387E, 387EA, the wrist end coupling 375 may be a two part coupling, where one end coupling part 375A of the wrist end coupling houses wrist motor 200M3A and the other end coupling part 375B houses wrist motor 200M3B. The two end coupling parts 375A, 375B (or more end coupling parts of the wrist axis includes more than two motors) are coupled to each other in any suitable manner e.g., such as with mechanical fasteners) to form the wrist end coupling 375. Each end coupling part 375A, 375B may be substantially similar to that described above with respect to Fig. 6. Here, the encoders 389, 389A (and the respective cap plates 387E, 387EA) are arranged adjacent each other in a mirrored arrangement at the mid-plane of the wrist end coupling 375 so as to insulate the encoders 389, 389A from the high temperature environment impinging on the exterior surfaces of the wrist end coupling 375. Each of the cap plates 387E, 387EA (and encoder scales ENT) includes a central aperture 361, through which the drive shaft 200M3BD passes.

[0081] The encoder scale ENT may be a magnetic scale that is disposed in the vacuum environment. Here, the magnetic scale is encapsulated within a hermetically sealed enclosure 396. As can be seen best in Figs. 3G and 3H (see also Figs. 3E and 3F), the hermetically sealed enclosure

396 includes a ferromagnetic backing or frame 396F that includes a coupling 396C configured to couple the frame 396F to the respective motor rotor 392 (or drive shaft), such as with any suitable mechanical fasteners. The frame 396F is configured to extend radially outward relative to the axis of rotation WX so as to place the encoder scale ENT in communication with the read head ENH, although, the frame 396F may have any suitable configuration in which the encoder track is positions for communication with the read head. The frame 396F includes a recess 396R in which the encoder scale ENT is disposed. A non-ferrous isolation wall 396W is placed over the encoder scale ENT and is sealed to the frame 396F (such as by welding, epoxy, or any other vacuum compatible fastening method that forms a hermetic seal) so as to encapsulate the encoder scale ENT within the frame 396F. The frame 396S or stator 391 may include a ferromagnetic shield

397 that is configured to magnetically isolate the motor rotor 392 and stator 391 from the interface between the read head ENH and encoder scale ENT.

[0082] The encoder scale ENT may include an absolute position scale that provides absolute position of the rotor 392 without employing home flags or referencing motion. The absolute zero (or any suitable reference position) of absolute position scale can be mechanically aligned with the frame 396F in any suitable manner. The respective rotor 392 and stator 391 may also be disposed (e.g., rotationally aligned about the wrist axis WX)at a consistent electrical position relative to the encoder 389, 389A assembly so as to yield a consistent motor phase angle from substrate transport apparatus to substrate transport apparatus within a predetermined tolerance (e.g., such as less than about 5 electrical degrees) so as to remove the a measurement operation of the respective phase angle during assembly of the substrate transport apparatus.

[0083] While the encoder 389, 389A is described herein as being located at the wrist axis WX, although, the encoder 389, 389A may be placed at one or more of the elbow axis EX and shoulder axis SX in lieu of the encoder 388. The central aperture 361 provides for the passage of one or more of cables CBL, cooling fluid tubes CLTB, and exhaust fluid tubes EXL through the encoder 389, 389A assembly and into and through the drive shaft and rotor of the respective motor 200M1, 200M2.

[0084] While the above-features of the present disclosure are described with respect to a transport arm having a direct drive motor disposed at each of the shoulder axis SX, elbow axis EX, and wrist axis WX, the present disclosure may also be applied to transport arms with at least one slaved arm link or at least one slaved end effector. For example, Fig. 11A illustrates a substrate transport robot having slaved end effectors 211 A, 21 IB. The substrate transport arm is a dual SCARA arm that includes compartmentalized arm links 213, 212L, 212R substantially similar to those described herein. The dual SCARA transport arm includes upper arm 213 (which is compartmentalized in a manner similar to that of upper arm 213, where the upper arm 213 may include central housing part 370A and two housing parts 372, the housing part 370A being substantially similar to housing part 370), two forearms 212R, 212L depending from opposite ends 213R, 213L (e.g., relative to the shoulder axis SX) of the common (substantially rigid and unarticulated) upper arm 213. Forearm 212R is coupled to end 213R of the upper arm 213 at elbow axis EXR. Forearm 212L is coupled to end 213L of the upper arm 213 at elbow axis EXL. Each forearm 212R, 212L has at least one end effector 211A, 21 IB coupled thereto at a respective wrist axis WXR, WXL. Briefly referring to Fig. 11 A, the rotation of the end effectors 211 A, 21 IB is slaved to the respective upper arm portion 213L, 213R; however, a drive motor may be provided at the wrist axis WXL, WXR (e.g., in a manner similar to that described herein) for directly driving the rotation of the end effectors 211 A, 21 IB. Providing drive motors at each axis SX, EXR, EXL, WXR, WXL effects non-linear or offset extension of the end effectors 211 A, 21 IB where the drive motors are driven substantially simultaneously to extend the end effector 211, 21 IDS, 21 IDE, 21 IDT, 211DQ along a radial or non-radial path or trajectory; whereas the slaved end effector is constrained to travel along a radial line of extension and retraction.

[0085] The upper arm 213 is coupled to the frame 201 and is directly driven by drive motor 200M1 in a manner similar to that described herein. In this example, each forearm 212R, 212L is directly driven by a respective drive motor 200M2A, 200M2B in a manner similar to that described herein; however, rotation of the end effectors 211 A, 21 IB may be slaved to the respective upper arm portion 213L, 213R. The elbow drive pulley 1110 at each elbow axis EXL, EXR is disposed on a respective stanchion 1110S that is fixedly (e.g., non-rotatably) coupled to the upper surface (the term upper is used here for convenience, although any spatial identifier may be used to refer to what is called the upper surface) of the respective upper arm portion 213L, 213R. The stanchion 1110S (and elbow drive pulley 1110) may be hollow so as to circumscribe the hollow drive shaft 200M2D of the respective motor 200M2A, 200M2B. As can be seen in Fig. 11, the stanchion 1110S may have any suitable height or length depending on the arm configuration so that at least a portion of the forearms 212R, 212L and the respective end effectors 211 A, 21 IB are stacked one over one another (e.g., at least with the forearms and end effectors in the retracted configuration illustrated in Fig. 11 A).

[0086] Referring also to Figs. 1 IB, 11C, 12, and 13A, the forearms 212R, 212L are configured so as to receive the elbow (drive) pulley 1110, a wrist (driven) pulley 1150, band(s) 1160 coupling the elbow drive pulley 1110 to the wrist driven pulley 1150, and one or more pressure tubes PT. The elbow and wrist end couplings 373, 375 may be substantially similar to those described herein; however, each of the elbow and wrist end couplings 373, 375 may be formed with a pulley cavity, a pressure chamber recess, an aperture 1200 that opens up to an interior of the hollow drive shaft 200M2D, and transmission band passages. The pulley cavity and transmission band passages are open to the vacuum environment with the forearm 212L, 212R assembled. The central arm portion 374 is formed with a box or channel shaped cross section (as described above) that is open to the vacuum environment and configured to couple with the end couplings 373, 375 (e.g., with the forearm assembled) so that the elbow and wrist pulleys 1110, 1150 are coupled to each other by the bands 1160 passing through the central arm portion 374. The one or more pressure tubes also pass through the central arm portion 374 between the respective pressure chambers ACH3-ACH5 of the end couplings 373, 375.

[0087] As can be seen best in Figs. 1 IB and 11C, each of the elbow and wrist end couplings 373,

375 are bifurcated so as to form the respective pressure chamber ACH3-ACH5 (which are in communication with pressure chambers ACH2, ACH1 in a manner similar to that illustrated in Fig. 3C) and the respective pulley cavity (which is exposed to vacuum pressure). One or more pressure tubes PT, PT2, PT3 extend between elbow and wrist end couplings 373, 375 so that one or more of the cables CBL, cooling fluid tubes CLTB, and exhaust fluid tubes EXL extend to the wrist axis WX for providing fluid transfer to and from the pressure chamber ACH4, ACH5 and/or electrical power to the pressure chamber ACH4, ACH5. The fluid transfer (such as forced convective cooling fluid) to the pressure chamber ACH4, ACH5 may provide cooling of the wrist pulley bearings (e g., via a conductive thermal path between the pressure chamber and the bearing coupling to the end coupling 375), which may cool the bearing mount area by about 50% to about 60% of the ambient temperature (e.g., above about 70°C or above about 100°C) of the process vacuum increasing the useful life of bearing lubricant of the wrist pulley 1150 (or in the case of a directly driven end effector, of the rotor/drive shaft bearings).

[0088] Referring to Figs. 1A-1I, 2-3H, 11A-11C, and 14, an exemplary substrate processing method will be described. The method includes providing the transfer apparatus 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (Fig. 14, Block 1400) with the frame TCF forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold the processing vacuum therein. The articulated arm 333 is also provided (Fig. 14, Block 1410) and connected to the frame TCF, within the sealed chamber, with the terminal joint 309 about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 and the end effector 211 A, 21 IB, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with the substrate holding station SHS located thereon. Extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333 is effected (Fig. 14, Block 1420, as described herein, such as by one or more of the motors 200M1-200M3B), where the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has an outer housing 213H, 212H containing at least one rotary joint (e.g., at least one of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints) with an axis of rotation (e.g., at least one of the shoulder axis, elbow axis, and wrist axis) about which the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333. As described herein, the outer housing 213Hm 212H is an assembly formed of housing parts 370-375 that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing 213H, 212H inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber, and the sealed housing parts 370-375 are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint MJ forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part 370-375 to each other sealed housing part 370- 375 of the outer housing.

[0089] Referring to Figs. 1A-1I, 2-3H, 11A-11C, and 15, an exemplary substrate processing method will be described. The method includes providing the substrate transport apparatus 104 (Fig. 15, Block 1500) having the base 201 and the articulated arm 333. The articulated arm 333 is connected to the base 201 with the terminal joint 309 about which the articulated arm 333 rotates and extends. The articulated arm 333 has at least one movable arm link 213, 212 and an end effector 211A, 21 IB, connected to the at least one movable arm link 213, 212, with a substrate holding station located thereon SHS. The extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333 is effected (Fig. 15, Block 1510, as described herein, such as by one or more of the motors 200M1- 200M3B), where the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has an outer housing 213H, 212H containing at least one rotary joint (e.g., at least one of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints) with an axis of rotation (e.g., at least one of the shoulder axis, elbow axis, and wrist axis) about which the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 rotates in articulation.

[0090] Referring to Figs. 1A-1I, 2-3H, 11A-11C, and 16, an exemplary substrate processing method will be described. The method includes providing the transfer apparatus 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (Fig. 16, Block 1600). As described herein the transfer apparatus 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G includes the frame TCF and the articulated arm 333. The frame TCF forms a sealed chamber disposed to hold the depressurized environment therein. The articulated arm 333 is connected to the frame TCF, within the sealed chamber, with the terminal joint 309 about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 and the end effector 211A, 21 IB, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with the substrate holding station SHS located thereon. Extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333 is effected (Fig. 16, Block 1610, as described herein, such as by one or more of the motors 200M1-200M3B), where the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has an outer housing 213H, 212H containing at least one rotary joint (e.g., at least one of the terminal joint, elbow joint, and wrist joint) with an axis of rotation SX, EX, WX about which the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333. In accordance with the method, the outer housing 213H, 212H is an assembly formed of housing parts 370-375 that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere ATM within the outer housing 213H, 212H inside the depressurized environment of the sealed chamber. As described herein, the sealed housing parts 370-375 are coupled to each other with at least one fastened joint MJ forming a pressure load bearing interface (see Fig. 3B) through which the sealed atmosphere ATM communicates between each sealed housing part 370-375 to each other sealed housing 370- 375 part so as to effect a pressure equilibrium, between inside the outer housing 213H, 212H and depressurized environment across exterior walls of the outer housing 213H, 212H.

[0091] Referring to Figs. 1A-1I, 2-3H, I IA-I IC, and 17, an exemplary substrate processing method will be described. The method includes providing a transfer apparatus 125 A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G (Fig. 17, Block 1700). As described herein, the transfer apparatus 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G includes a frame TCF forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein and an articulated arm 333 connected to the frame TCF within the sealed chamber. The articulated arm 333 has the terminal joint (e.g., shoulder joint) about which the articulated arm 333 rotates and extends, and has at least one movable arm link 213, 212 and an end effector 211 A, 21 IB, connected to the at least one movable arm link 213, 212, with a substrate holding station SHS located thereon. Extension and retraction of the articulate arm 333 is effected (Fig. 17, Block 1710), where the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 has an outer housing 213H, 12H containing at least one rotary joint (e.g., at least one of the shoulder joint, elbow joint, and wrist joint) with an axis of rotation SX, EX, WX about which the at least one movable arm link 213, 212 rotation in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm 333. The method also includes housing, with a circulation cooled pocket (also referred to herein as the pressurized chambers ACH1-ACH5) included in the outer housing 213H, 212H of the at least one movable arm link 213, 212, separate and distinct from adjacent spaces (such as those containing the vacuum or depressurized environment as illustrated, e.g., in Fig. 3C) in the outer housing 213H, 212H adjacent to the circulation cooled pocket, one or more electromechanical components (such as the motors 200M1, 200M2, 200M3A, 200M3B, encoders 388, 389, 389A, and other electromechanical components as described herein) (Fig. 17, Block 1720), wherein the one or more electromechanical components are housed within a circulation cooled atmosphere of the circulation cooled pocket separate and distinct from an internal stagnant environment (e.g., the vacuum environment), of the outer housing (213H, 212), disposed against the circulation cooled pocket.

[0092] The following are provided in accordance with the present disclosure and may be employed individually, in any combination with each other, and/or in any combination with the features described above:

[0093] In accordance with the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus includes: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein; an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal j oint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber; and wherein the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing.

[0094] In the transfer apparatus one or more of the following are provided , individually or in any suitable combination:

[0095] at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link;

[0096] the articulated arm is a SC ARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0097] the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0098] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal j oint;

[0099] the sealed interface bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link;

[0100] the sealed interface bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing; [0101] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel;

[0102] the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness;

[0103] the depressurized part of the outer housing is configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads;

[0104] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; and

[0105] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least part of an encoder.

[0106] In accordance with the present disclosure, a method includes: providing: a transfer apparatus with a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein, and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; and effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm where the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm; wherein the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber, and the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing. [0107] In the method one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0108] at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link;

[0109] the articulated arm is a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0110] the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0111] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal joint;

[0112] the sealed interface bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link;

[0113] the sealed interface bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing;

[0114] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel;

[0115] the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness; [0116] the depressurized part of the outer housing is configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads;

[0117] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; and

[0118] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least part of an encoder.

[0119] In accordance with the present disclosure, a substrate transport apparatus includes: a base; and an articulated arm connected to the base with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing, with the articulated arm subjected to processing vacuum against the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber; and wherein the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface, sealing the sealed atmosphere from and maintaining integrity of the processing vacuum, and through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing via a flexible tube crossing the sealed interface and configured to accommodate rotation of the at least one movable arm link about the axis of rotation.

[0120] In the substrate transport apparatus one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0121] at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link; and the flexible tube communicates with a pressurized chamber within the at least one movable arm link to provide cooling fluid to the pressurized chamber, where the cooling fluid is exhausted from the articulated arm through at least another pressurized chamber within the at least one movable arm where the at least another pressurized chamber forms a fluid passage for the exhausted cooling fluid;

[0122] the articulated arm is a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0123] the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0124] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal joint;

[0125] the sealed interface bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link;

[0126] the sealed interface bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing;

[0127] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel;

[0128] the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness; [0129] the depressurized part of the outer housing is configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads;

[0130] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; and

[0131] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least part of an encoder.

[0132] In accordance with the present disclosure, a method includes: providing a substrate transport apparatus having: a base, and an articulated arm connected to the base with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; and effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm where the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation; wherein the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing, with the articulated arm subjected to processing vacuum against the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber, and the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface, sealing the sealed atmosphere from and maintaining integrity of the processing vacuum, and through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing.

[0133] In the method one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0134] at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link; [0135] the articulated arm is a SC ARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0136] the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0137] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal j oint;

[0138] the sealed interface bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link;

[0139] the sealed interface bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing;

[0140] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel;

[0141] the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness;

[0142] the depressurized part of the outer housing is configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads;

[0143] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; and [0144] the at least one sealed housing part houses at least part of an encoder.

[0145] In accordance with the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus includes: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a depressurized environment therein; and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal j oint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the depressurized environment of the sealed chamber; and wherein the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one fastened joint forming a pressure load bearing interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part so as to effect a pressure equilibrium, between inside the outer housing and depressurized environment across exterior walls of the outer housing.

[0146] In the transfer apparatus one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0147] the pressure load bearing interface forms a pressure load bearing compartment;

[0148] the pressure load bearing compartment includes more than one pressure load bearing pockets distributed through the at least one movable arm link, where each pressure load bearing pocket is in communication with each other pressure load bearing pocket;

[0149] at least one pressure load bearing pocket in one of the at least one movable arm link communicates with another pressure load bearing pocket in another of the at least one movable arm link of the articulated arm through the at least one rotary joint so that the sealed atmosphere is shared between the at least one pressure load bearing pocket of the one of the at least one movable arm link and the other pressure load bearing pocket of the other of the at least one movable arm link through the rotatory j oint;

[0150] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects fluid transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0151] the fluid transfer includes one or more of fluid supply and fluid return, where the fluid return is separate and distinct from the fluid supply;

[0152] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects passage of fluid tubes throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0153] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects electrical power transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0154] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects data communication throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0155] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket houses one or more sensors;

[0156] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket houses at least stators of an arm drive motor disposed at one or more of the terminal joint and the at least one rotary joint;

[0157] the articulated arm is a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0158] the depressurized environment is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0159] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal j oint;

[0160] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel; and

[0161] depressurized parts of the outer housing are configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads.

[0162] In accordance with the present disclosure, a method includes: providing a transfer apparatus comprising: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a depressurized environment therein, and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; and effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm where the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm; wherein the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the depressurized environment of the sealed chamber, and the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one fastened joint forming a pressure load bearing interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part so as to effect a pressure equilibrium, between inside the outer housing and depressurized environment across exterior walls of the outer housing.

[0163] In the method one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination: [0164] the pressure load bearing interface forms a pressure load bearing compartment;

[0165] the pressure load bearing compartment includes more than one pressure load bearing pockets distributed through the at least one movable arm link, where each pressure load bearing pocket is in communication with each other pressure load bearing pocket;

[0166] at least one pressure load bearing pocket in one of the at least one movable arm link communicates with another pressure load bearing pocket in another of the at least one movable arm link of the articulated arm through the at least one rotary joint so that the sealed atmosphere is shared between the at least one pressure load bearing pocket of the one of the at least one movable arm link and the other pressure load bearing pocket of the other of the at least one movable arm link through the rotatory j oint;

[0167] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects fluid transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0168] the fluid transfer includes one or more of fluid supply and fluid return, where the fluid return is separate and distinct from the fluid supply;

[0169] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects passage of fluid tubes throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0170] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects electrical power transfer throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0171] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket effects data communication throughout the sealed atmosphere of the articulated arm;

[0172] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket houses one or more sensors; [0173] the at least one pressure load bearing pocket houses at least stators of an arm drive motor disposed at one or more of the terminal joint and the at least one rotary joint;

[0174] the articulated arm is a SC ARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm;

[0175] the depressurized environment is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes;

[0176] the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal j oint;

[0177] the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel; and

[0178] depressurized parts of the outer housing are configured commensurate with static and dynamic loads, imparted to the at least one movable arm link from corresponding static and dynamic operating conditions of the articulated arm, and free of differential pressure loads.

[0179] In accordance with the present disclosure, a transfer apparatus includes: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein; and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the at least one movable arm link has a circulation cooled pocket included in the outer housing, separate and distinct from adjacent spaces in the outer housing adjacent to the circulation cooled pocket that is configured so as to house, one or more electromechanical components, within a circulation cooled atmosphere of the circulation cooled pocket separate and distinct from an internal stagnant environment, of the outer housing, disposed against the circulation cooled pocket.

[0180] In the transfer apparatus one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0181] the circulation cooled pocket is located at the at least one rotary joint;

[0182] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools at least a portion of at least one sensor;

[0183] the at least one sensor comprises an drive motor encoder, where the encoder read head is housed and cooled within the circulation cooled pocket and the encoder track is an encapsulated encoder track sealed from the circulation cooled pocket and the stagnant internal environment;

[0184] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools at least stators of an arm drive motor disposed at one or more of the terminal joint and the at least one rotary joint;

[0185] the arm drive motor includes an encapsulated rotor sealed from the circulation cooled pocket and the stagnant internal environment;

[0186] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools electrical power cables;

[0187] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools data communication cables;

[0188] the circulation cooled pocket conductively cools one or more of pulley and motor bearings disposed at the at least one rotary joint; and [0189] the circulation cooled pocket, receives circulation feed coolant from another of the at least one movable arm link.

[0190] In accordance with the present disclosure, a method includes: providing a transfer apparatus comprising: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein, and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, where the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm; and housing, with a circulation cooled pocket included in the outer housing of the at least one movable arm link, separate and distinct from adjacent spaces in the outer housing adjacent to the circulation cooled pocket, , one or more electromechanical components, wherein the one or more electromechanical components are housed within a circulation cooled atmosphere of the circulation cooled pocket separate and distinct from an internal stagnant environment, of the outer housing, disposed against the circulation cooled pocket.

[0191] In the method one or more of the following are provided, individually or in any suitable combination:

[0192] the circulation cooled pocket is located at the at least one rotary joint;

[0193] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools at least a portion of at least one sensor;

[0194] the at least one sensor comprises an drive motor encoder, where the encoder read head is housed and cooled within the circulation cooled pocket and the encoder track is an encapsulated encoder track sealed from the circulation cooled pocket and the stagnant internal environment; [0195] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools at least stators of an arm drive motor disposed at one or more of the terminal joint and the at least one rotary joint;

[0196] the arm drive motor includes an encapsulated rotor sealed from the circulation cooled pocket and the stagnant internal environment;

[0197] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools electrical power cables;

[0198] the circulation cooled pocket houses and cools data communication cables;

[0199] the circulation cooled pocket conductively cools one or more of pulley and motor bearings disposed at the at least one rotary joint; and

[0200] the circulation cooled pocket, receives circulation feed coolant from another of the at least one movable arm link.

[0201 ] It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present disclosure. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope of any claims appended hereto. Further, the mere fact that different features are recited in mutually different dependent or independent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be advantageously used, such a combination remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0202] What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A transfer apparatus comprising: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein; and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber; and wherein the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing.

2. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link.

3. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the articulated arm is a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm.

4. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes.

5. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal joint.

6. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sealed interface: bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link; or bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing.

7. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel.

8. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness.

9. The transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one sealed housing part houses: at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; or at least part of an encoder.

10. A method comprising: providing a transfer apparatus comprising: a frame forming a sealed chamber disposed to hold a processing vacuum therein, and an articulated arm connected to the frame, within the sealed chamber, with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; and effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm where the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting the extension and retraction of the articulated arm; wherein the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber, and the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the articulated arm is a SCARA arm extending from the terminal joint, about which the SCARA arm rotates and extends, and having more than one movable arm links with the end effector dependent therefrom, each movable arm link being joined in series with the end effector, where the end effector is disposed at a distal end of the SCARA arm.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the processing vacuum is a high vacuum commensurate with at least one of etching processes, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, implantation processes, ion implantation, metrology, rapid thermal processing, dry strip atomic layer deposition, oxidation, diffusion, forming of nitrides, vacuum lithography, epitaxy, wire bonder and evaporation and vacuum thin film processes.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one rotary joint with the axis of rotation is distal from the terminal joint.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the sealed interface: bisects the at least one movable arm link between the end portion and another end portion of the at least one movable arm link; or bisects an outer wall or shell of the outer housing.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the outer housing forms a pressure vessel, with the axis of rotation extending from the pressure vessel.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the outer housing is depressurized, at least in part, so that walls of a depressurized part of the outer housing are subjected to a pressure equilibrium across a wall thickness.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one sealed housing part houses: at least a portion of a brushless electrical machine; or at least part of an encoder.

19. A substrate transport apparatus comprising: a base; and an articulated arm connected to the base with a terminal joint about which the articulated arm rotates and extends, and having at least one movable arm link and an end effector, connected to the at least one movable arm link, with a substrate holding station located thereon; wherein the at least one movable arm link has an outer housing containing at least one rotary joint with an axis of rotation about which the at least one movable arm link rotates in articulation effecting extension and retraction of the articulated arm, and the outer housing is an assembly formed of housing parts that are sealed to hold a sealed atmosphere within the outer housing, with the articulated arm subjected to processing vacuum against the outer housing inside the processing vacuum of the sealed chamber; and wherein the sealed housing parts are coupled to each other with at least one mechanical joint forming a sealed interface, sealing the sealed atmosphere from and maintaining integrity of the processing vacuum, and through which the sealed atmosphere communicates between each sealed housing part to each other sealed housing part of the outer housing via a flexible tube crossing the sealed interface and configured to accommodate rotation of the at least one movable arm link about the axis of rotation.

20. The substrate transport of claim 19, wherein: at least one sealed housing part is an end portion of the at least one movable arm link, the at least one sealed housing part housing the at least one rotary joint, wherein the at least one rotary joint is included within the at least one sealed housing part of the at least one movable arm link; and the flexible tube communicates with a pressurized chamber within the at least one movable arm link to provide cooling fluid to the pressurized chamber, where the cooling fluid is exhausted from the articulated arm through at least another pressurized chamber within the at least one movable arm where the at least another pressurized chamber forms a fluid passage for the exhausted cooling fluid.