What is claimed is:
1. A fluid valve, comprising:
a main valve portion of a flexible material, the main valve portion substantially forming a tube with an open first end and an open second end;
a valve stopper member having a substantially circular cross section;
the open second end of the main valve portion having a substantially circular lip which resiliently engages the circular cross section of the stopper member when the valve is closed, and which may be resiliently urged away from the stopper member to open the valve.
2. The fluid valve of claim 1, wherein the main valve portion first open end has a first cross section and the main valve portion second open end has a second cross section, the second cross section smaller than the first cross section.
3. The fluid valve of claim 2, wherein the valve may be opened by urging the lip of the main valve portion away from the stopper with a needle positioned inside the tube.
4. The fluid valve of claim 3, wherein the stopper portion is resiliently connected to the main valve portion such that a needle urging the circular lip of the main valve portion away from the stopper may also engage the stopper and push the stopper away from the main portion lip.
5. The fluid valve of claim 1, wherein the valve is integrally formed of an elastomeric material.
6. The fluid valve of claim 5, wherein the elastomeric material is a blend of ethylene polypropylene diene monomer (EPDM) and butyl rubber.
7. A fluid valve, comprising:
a main valve portion of a flexible material, the main valve portion substantially forming a tube with an open first end and an open second end;
the open first end having a first cross section and the open second end having a second cross section, the second cross section smaller than the first cross section;
a valve stopper member having a substantially circular cross section;
the open second end of the main valve portion having a substantially circular lip which resiliently engages the circular cross section of the stopper member when the valve is closed, and which may be resiliently urged away from the stopper member to open the valve.
8. The fluid valve of claim 7, wherein the valve is integrally formed.
9. The fluid valve of claim 8, wherein the main valve portion is formed with the smaller second end distall from the stopper member, and is subsequently manipulated by folding the smaller end back through larger end to engage the stopper.
10. The fluid valve of claim 7, wherein the valve may be opened by urging the lip of the main valve portion away from the stopper with a needle positioned inside the tube.
11. The fluid valve of claim 10, wherein the stopper portion is resiliently attached to the main valve portion such that a needle urging the circular lip of the main valve portion away from the stopper may also engage the stopper and push the stopper away from the main portion lip.
12. The fluid valve of claim 8, wherein the valve is integrally formed of an elastomeric material.
13. The fluid valve of claim 12, wherein the elastomeric material is a blend of ethylene polypropylene diene monomer (EPDM) and butyl rubber.
14. A fluid valve system, comprising:
a main valve portion of a flexible material, the main valve portion substantially forming a tube with an open first end and an open second end;
the open first end having a first cross section and the open second end having a second cross section, the second cross section smaller than the first cross section;
a valve stopper member having a substantially circular cross section;
the open second end of the main valve portion having a substantially circular lip which resiliently engages the circular cross section of the stopper member when the valve is closed, and which may be resiliently urged away from the stopper member to open the valve;
a needle operable to engage the main valve portion and urge the main valve portion away from the stopper.
15. The fluid valve system of claim 14, wherein the valve is integrally formed.
16. The fluid valve system of claim 15, wherein the main valve portion is formed with the smaller second end distall from the stopper member, and is subsequently manipulated by folding the smaller end back through larger end to engage the stopper.
17. The fluid valve system of claim 14, wherein the valve may be opened by urging the lip of the main valve portion away from the stopper with the needle positioned inside the tube.
18. The fluid valve system of claim 17, wherein the stopper portion is resiliently attached to the main valve portion such that the needle may also engage the stopper and push the stopper away from the main portion lip.
19. The fluid valve system of claim 14, wherein the valve main portion and stopper are integrally formed of an elastomeric material.
20. The fluid valve system of claim 19, wherein the elastomeric material is a blend of ethylene polypropylene diene monomer (EPDM) and butyl rubber.
21. The fluid valve system of claim 14, wherein the needle has a tip and is hollow to accommodate fluid flow; the tip having a fluid passageway.
22. The fluid valve system of claim 21, wherein the needle is formed of a plastic material.
23. A method of forming a fluid valve, comprising:
integrally forming a main tube portion and a stopper portion of an elastomeric material, the stopper portion having a circular cross section and the main tube portion having an open first end and an open second end, the open second end having a cross section sized to resiliently engage the circular cross section of the stopper, the valve formed with the open second end distal from the stopper;
manipulating the main tube portion to pass the open second end through the open first end and engage the stopper.
24. The method of forming a fluid valve of claim 23, wherein the elastomeric material is a blend of ethylene polypropylene diene monomer (EPDM) and butyl rubber.
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 method for processing a substrate, comprising:
positioning the substrate on a substrate receiving surface of a susceptor, wherein the susceptor is disposed over a support assembly of a processing chamber, the support assembly comprises one or more supporting ports, one or more rotating ports, and each of the supporting ports and rotating ports is adopted to receive a fluid from a flow controller;
raising the substrate to a processing position by delivering flow of fluid to the one or more supporting ports to float the susceptor and the substrate; and
rotating the susceptor and the substrate by delivering flow of fluid to the one or more rotating ports.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising heating the susceptor from a direction opposing the substrate receiving surface.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein heating the susceptor comprises transmitting radiant energy through a quartz window of the processing chamber.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more supporting ports and the one or more rotating ports are formed in the quartz window.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein positioning the substrate on the susceptor comprises:
receiving the substrate using three or more substrate supporting pins; and
transferring the substrate to the susceptor by lowering the three or more substrate supporting pins.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the substrate using the three or more supporting pins comprises extending the three or more supporting pins through openings formed through the susceptor.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
aligning the openings in the susceptor with the three or more supporting pins by controlling the flow of fluid to the one or more rotating ports; and
ceasing the flow of fluid to the one or more rotating ports to stop rotating the susceptor.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
lowering the susceptor by controlling the flow of fluid to the one or more supporting ports; and
transferring the substrate from the susceptor to the three or more substrate supporting pins.
9. The method of claim 5, wherein raising the substrate to a processing position further comprises lifting the support assembly.
10. An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
a chamber body defining a processing volume;
a first quartz window formed through the chamber body, wherein the first quartz window is configured such that a first external source can transmit radiant energy through the quartz window to the processing volume;
a susceptor having a substrate receiving surface configured to support a substrate; and
one or more ports configured to float and rotate the susceptor by directing a flow of fluid towards a backside of the susceptor.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more ports comprises:
one or more supporting ports, each configured to direct a flow of fluid to raise or lower the susceptor; and
one or more rotating ports, each configured to direct a flow of fluid to rotate the susceptor.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a susceptor positioning system configured to retain the susceptor within a zone while the susceptor is rotating.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more ports are formed through the first quartz window.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a supporting assembly disposed in the processing volume, wherein the supporting assembly is configured to support and rotate the susceptor, and the one or more ports are formed in the supporting assembly.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a support lifting assembly configured to raise or lower the supporting assembly.
16. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising three or more substrate supporting pins configured to receive a substrate and to transfer a substrate to the susceptor.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the susceptor has three or more openings formed through, and the three or more openings are configured to allow relative motion between the three or more substrate supporting pins and the susceptor.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein each of the three or more opening is formed on a bottom surface of a recess formed in the substrate receiving surface of the susceptor, and the bottom surface of the recess is configured to support a head of one substrate supporting pin when the substrate rests on the substrate receiving surface.
19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the chamber body has a slit valve formed through a sidewall, the slit valve is configured to allow passage of a substrate and enable the susceptor in a receiving position to receive the substrate, and the apparatus further comprising a lifting mechanism configured to move the susceptor between the receiving position and a processing position in an elevation away from the silt valve.
20. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a second quartz window formed on the chamber body, wherein the substrate receiving surface of the susceptor faces the second quartz window and the backside of the susceptor faces the first quartz window, and the second quartz window is configured to transmit energy from a second external heat source to the processing volume.