What is claimed is:
1. A system for transporting substrates into a clean room, the system comprising:
an isolation chamber adapted to be located between the clean room and a staging area;
a first movable closure coupled to a staging area side of the isolation chamber, the first movable closure being adapted to open a substrate shipping container;
a second movable closure coupled to a clean room side of the isolation chamber, the second movable closure being adapted to open a substrate interprocess container; and
a substrate transfer robot located within the isolation chamber;
wherein the substrate transfer robot is adapted to transfer substrates from the substrate shipping container, opened by the first movable closure, to the substrate interprocess container opened by the second movable closure.
2. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1, wherein the substrate interprocess container is a front opening unified pod.
3. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1, wherein the substrate shipping container is a front opening shipping box.
4. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1 further comprising a substrate alignment module located within the isolation chamber.
5. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1 further comprising a optical character recognition module located within the isolation chamber.
6. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1 further comprising a substrate buffering module located within the isolation chamber.
7. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1, wherein the staging area has a staging area cleanliness class greater than 10 and, wherein the clean room has a clean room has a cleanliness class less than 10.
8. The system for transporting substrates into a clean room of claim 1 further comprising a system controller connected to the substrate transfer robot and further connected to the first and second movable closures.
9. A substrate transport system comprising:
an isolation chamber;
a wall connected to the isolation chamber for separating a staging area and a clean area;
a first substrate container support coupled to the isolation chamber at a first side of the wall, the first substrate container support being adapted to support a substrate shipping container;
a second substrate container support coupled to the isolation chamber at a second opposite side of the wall, the second substrate container support being adapted to support a substrate interprocess carrier container; and
a substrate transfer robot located within the isolation chamber;
wherein, the substrate transfer robot is adapted to transfer substrates within the isolation chamber from the substrate shipping container to the substrate interprocess carrier container.
10. The substrate transport system of claim 9 further comprising:
a first movable closure coupled to the isolation chamber, the first movable closure being adapted to open the substrate shipping container; and
a second movable closure coupled to the isolation chamber, the second movable closure being adapted to open the substrate interprocess container.
11. The substrate transport system of claim 9, wherein the substrate shipping container is a front opening shipping box.
12. The substrate transport system of claim 9, wherein the substrate interprocess container is a front opening unified pod.
13. The substrate transport system of claim 9 further comprising a substrate alignment module located within the isolation chamber.
14. The substrate transport system of claim 9 further comprising a optical character recognition module located within the isolation chamber.
15. The substrate transport system of claim 9 further comprising a substrate buffering module located within the isolation chamber.
16. The substrate transport system of claim 9, wherein the staging area has a staging area cleanliness class greater than 10 and, wherein the clean room has a clean room cleanliness class less than 10.
17. The substrate transport system of claim 10 further comprising a system controller connected to the substrate transfer robot and further connected to the first and second movable closures.
18. A method of transferring substrates comprising the steps of:
opening a substrate shipping container at a first load port, the first load port having a first support located in a staging area;
opening a substrate interprocess carrier container at a second load port, the second load port having a second support located in a clean area, the clean area being isolated from the staging area; and
transferring substrates from the first container to the second container in an isolation chamber between the staging area and the clean area, wherein an interior of the isolation chamber is isolated from the staging area and the clean area by the substrate shipping container at the first load port and the substrate interprocess container at the second load port at a same time.
19. The method of transferring substrates of claim 18, wherein the step of opening a substrate shipping container comprises opening a front opening shipping box.
20. The method of transferring substrates of claim 18, wherein the step of opening a substrate interprocess carrier comprises opening a front opening unified pod.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A luminescent lanthanide chelate comprising a lanthanide ion and a chelating ligand of formula (I)
wherein
R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, \u2014COOH, \u2014COO\u2212, \u2014CH2COOH and \u2014CH2COO\u2212;
G1 is a group consisting of one or two moieties, each moiety being selected from the group consisting of ethynediyl (\u2014C\u2261C\u2014), ethenylene (\u2014CH\u2550CH\u2014), phenylene, biphenylene, naphthylene, pyridylene, pyrazinylene, pyrunidinylene, pyridazinylene, furylene, thienylene, pyrrolylene, imidazolylene, pyrazolylene, thiazolylene, isothiazolylene, oxazolylene, isoxazolylene, furazanylene, 1,2,4-triazol-3,5-ylene and oxadiazolylene;
G2 is a group capable of being coupled to a biospecific binding reactant and is selected from the group consisting of amino, aminooxy, carboxyl, aldehyde or mercapto groups and activated forms made of them;
Z is selected from the group consisting of carboxyalkyl amine {\u2014N(CH2)nCOOH or \u2014N(CH2)nCOO\u2212\u2014 and n=1, 2, 3, 4. 5, or 6}, ether (\u2014O\u2014), thioether (\u2014S\u2014), carbonyl (\u2014CO\u2014) and unsubstituted or substituted methyl (\u2014CR2\u2014) wherein group R2 is selected from the group consisting of H, methyl, ethyl and carboxyalkyl{\u2014CH2)nCOOH or \u2014(CH2)nCOO\u2212 and n=1, 2, 3, 4. 5, or 6; and
the lanthanide ion is a member selected from the group consisting of europium (III), terbium (III), dysprosium (III) and samarium(III).
2. The lanthanide chelate according to claim 1 wherein G2 is said activated form selected form the group consisting of isocyanato, isothiocyanato, diazonium, bromoacetamido, iodoacetamido, reactive esters, pyridyl-2-dithio and 6-substituted 4-chloro-1,3,5-triazin-2-ylamino.
3. The lanthanide chelate according to claim 1 wherein the chelating ligand is {2,2\u2032,2\u2033,2\u2032\u2033-{(carboxymethyl)iminobis(methylene)-bis{(4-(4-isothiocyanato)-phenylethynylpyridine-6,2-diyl}bis(methylenenitrilo)}tetrakis(acetato)}-europium(III).
4. A detectable molecule which comprises a biospecific binding reactant attached to a luminescent lanthanide chelate comprising a lanthanide ion and a chelating ligand of formula (II)
wherein
R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, \u2014COOH, \u2014COO\u2212, \u2014CH2COOH and \u2014CH2COO\u2212;
G1 is a group consisting of one or two moieties, each moiety being selected from the group consisting of ethynediyl (\u2014C\u2261C\u2014), ethenylene (\u2014CH\u2550CH\u2014), phenylene, biphenylene, naphthylene, pyridylene, pyrazinylene, pyrimidinylene, pyridazinylene, furylene, thienylene, pyrrolylene, imidazolylene, pyrazolylene, thiazolylene, isothiazolylene, oxazolylene, isoxazolylene, furazanylene, 1,2,4-triazol-3,5-ylene and oxadiazolylene;
G3 is a group coupled to said biospecific binding reactant and is selected from the group consisting of thiourea (\u2014NH\u2014CS\u2014NH\u2014), aminoacetamide (\u2014NH\u2014CO\u2014CH2\u2014NH\u2014), amide (\u2014NH\u2014CO\u2014, \u2014CO\u2014NH\u2014, \u2014NCH3\u2014CO\u2014 and \u2014CO\u2014NCH3\u2014), aliphatic thioether (\u2014S\u2014), disulfide (\u2014S\u2014S\u2014) and 6-substituted-,1,3,5,-triazine-2,4-diamine;
Z is selected from the group consisting of carboxyalkyl amine {\u2014N(CH2)nCOOH\u2014 or \u2014N(CH2)nCOO\u2212\u2014 wherein n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6}, ether (\u2014O\u2014), thioether (\u2014S\u2014), carbonyl (\u2014CO\u2014) and unsubstituted or substituted methyl (\u2014CR2\u2014) wherein group R2 is selected from the group consisting of H, methyl, ethyl and carboxyalkyl \u2014(CH2)nCOOH\u2014 or \u2014{(CH2)nCOO\u2212\u2014 wherein n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6; and
the lanthanide ion is a member selected from the group consisting of europium (III), terbium (III), dysprosium (III) and samarium(III).
5. The detectable molecule according to claim 4, wherein the biospecific binding reactant is selected from the group consisting of an antibody, an antigen, a receptor ligand, a specific binding protein, a DNA probe and an RNA probe.
6. The detectable molecule according to claim 4, wherein the lanthanide chelate attached to a biospecific binding reactant is {2,2\u2032,2\u2033,2\u2032\u2033-{(carboxymethyl)-iminobis(methylene)-bis{4-(4-thioureylene)phenylethynylpyridine-6,2-diyl}bis(methylenenitrilo)tetrakis-(acetato)}-europium(III).
7. A method of performing a biospecific binding assay, comprising
labelling an analyte with a detectable molecule comprising a biospecific binding reactant attached to a luminescent lanthanide chelate, thereby forming a labelled analyte;
exciting said labelled analyte with radiation having an excitation wavelength, thereby forming an excited labelled analyte; and
detecting emission radiation emitted from said excited labelled analyte,
wherein said luminescent lanthanide chelate comprises a lanthanide ion and a chelating ligand of formula (II)
wherein
R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, \u2014COOH, \u2014COO\u2212, \u2014CH2COOH and \u2014CH2COO\u2212;
G1 is a group consisting of one or two moieties, each moiety being selected from the group consisting of ethynediyl (\u2014C\u2261C\u2014), ethenylene (\u2014CH\u2550CH\u2014), phenylene, biphenylene, naphthylene, pyridylene, pyrazinylene, pyrimidinylene, pyridazinylene, furylene, thienylene, pyrrolylene, imidazolylene, pyrazolylene, thiazolylene, isothiazolylene, oxazolylene, isoxazolylene, furazanylene, 1,2,4 triazol-3,5-ylene and oxadiazolylene;
G3 is a group coupled to said biospecific binding reactant and is selected from the group consisting of thiourea (\u2014NH\u2014CS\u2014NH\u2014), aminoacetamide (\u2014NH\u2014CO\u2014CH2\u2014NH\u2014), amide (\u2014NH\u2014CO\u2014, \u2014CO\u2014NH\u2014, \u2014NCH3\u2014CO\u2014 and \u2014CO\u2014NCH3\u2014), aliphatic thioether (\u2014S\u2014), disulfide (\u2014S\u2014S\u2014) and 6-substituted-1,3,5,-triazine-2,4-diamine;
Z is selected from the group consisting of carboxyalkyl amine {\u2014N(CH2)nCOOH\u2014 or \u2014N(CH2)nCOO\u2212 wherein n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6}, ether (\u2014O\u2014), thioether (\u2014S\u2014), carbonyl (\u2014CO\u2014) and unsubstituted or substituted methyl (\u2014CR2\u2014) wherein group R2 is selected from the group consisting of H, methyl, ethyl and carboxyalkyl \u2014(CH2)nCOOH\u2014 or \u2014(CH2)nCOO\u2212\u2014 wherein n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6; and
the lanthanide ion is a member selected from the group consisting of europium (III), terbium (III), dysprosium (III) and samarium(III).
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the biospecific binding reactant is selected from the group consisting of an antibody, an antigen, a receptor ligand, a specific binding protein, a DNA probe and an RNA probe.
9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the lanthanide chelate attached to a biospecific binding reactant is {2,2\u2032,2\u2033,2\u2032\u2033-{(carboxymethyl)iminobis(methylene)-bis{4-(4-thioureylene)-phenylethynylpyridine-6,2-diyl}bis(methylenenitrilo)}tetrakis(acetato)}-europium(III).