Is automation of a vertical system more expensive than for a fountain system?
No. It is less costly, and it is simpler to maintain. Wafers are handled only once, by the standard front-end wafer handling robot, which loads and unloads them from the wafer holders. There is no need for the expensive robotic precision necessary to reliably move wafers between process chambers because, in Stratus, the movement occurs while wafers are securely held in the fail-safe wafer-holder. This feature also makes Stratus an ideal platform for electrodeposition on substrates as thin as 1.75µm up to as thick as 2 mm. Wafer breakage is reduced and automation costs are less.
