The present disclosure provides an impregnation method that includes the steps of providing a workpiece to be impregnated, placing the workpiece in a bath of impregnating agent inside a vessel, and oscillating movement of a vibrating body inside the vessel during an impregnation period. The vibrating body creates oscillating pressure changes inside the bath by acting on the bath. the method further includes removing the workpiece from the bath after the impregnation period.

A method for recycling a substrate holder adapted to receive a substrate for at least one deposition step of a layer of a material on the substrate also leading to the depositing of a layer of a material on the substrate holder, the method including implanting ion species through a receiving surface of the substrate holder so as to form at least one buried weakened plane delimiting a thin film underneath the receiving surface of the substrate holder, exfoliating the thin film from the substrate holder so as to break up the thin film, and removing a stack including at least one layer of a material deposited on the thin film resulting from the at least one deposition step of the layer of a material on the substrate.

A method for recycling a substrate holder adapted to receive a substrate for at least one deposition step of a layer of a material on the substrate also leading to the depositing of a layer of a material on the substrate holder, the method including implanting ion species through a receiving surface of the substrate holder so as to form at least one buried weakened plane delimiting a thin film underneath the receiving surface of the substrate holder, exfoliating the thin film from the substrate holder so as to break up the thin film, and removing a stack including at least one layer of a material deposited on the thin film resulting from the at least one deposition step of the layer of a material on the substrate.

Described herein are aligners and methods of aligning workpieces. A workpiece aligner apparatus comprises an aligner chuck including an arm having a first end and a second end, a first edge gripping element on the first end and a second edge gripping element on the second end, the first edge gripping element and the second edge gripping element spaced apart to hold a workpiece at edges thereof, and a central workpiece handling element located in a central region of the arm, wherein the central workpiece handling element has a height such that the central workpiece handling element extends higher than the first edge gripping element and second edge gripping element.

The invention relates to a susceptor which is for the processing chamber of protective gas and vacuum high-temperature processing installations and consists of graphite or CFC, has a tunnel-like design, and can be closed by a cover at both its ends. The invention should allow the provision of a flexibly and modularly extendable susceptor that has a material-saving design and, in particular, uniform thermal expansion. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that said susceptor (1) consists of a plurality of modules (2) aligned one next to the other along a continuous tunnel, that each module (2) consists of a tubular section (3) and a base panel (4) fixed thereto, and that the end faces (5) between each pair of modules (2) are interconnected in a form-fitting manner.

The invention relates to a susceptor which is for the processing chamber of protective gas and vacuum high-temperature processing installations and consists of graphite or CFC, has a tunnel-like design, and can be closed by a cover at both its ends. The invention should allow the provision of a flexibly and modularly extendable susceptor that has a material-saving design and, in particular, uniform thermal expansion. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that said susceptor (1) consists of a plurality of modules (2) aligned one next to the other along a continuous tunnel, that each module (2) consists of a tubular section (3) and a base panel (4) fixed thereto, and that the end faces (5) between each pair of modules (2) are interconnected in a form-fitting manner.

The present disclosure provides a holding arrangement for holding a substrate during substrate processing in a vacuum processing chamber. The holding arrangement includes a flexible device having one or more sections, wherein the one or more sections are provided in a first operation condition to have a first portion, a second portion and a curved portion, wherein the curved portion is provided between the first portion and the second portion, wherein the first portion has a surface configured to face the substrate, and wherein the first portion and the second portion are moveable with respect to each other, and an adhesive is provided on the surface of the first portion.

The present disclosure provides a holding arrangement for holding a substrate during substrate processing in a vacuum processing chamber. The holding arrangement includes a flexible device having one or more sections, wherein the one or more sections are provided in a first operation condition to have a first portion, a second portion and a curved portion, wherein the curved portion is provided between the first portion and the second portion, wherein the first portion has a surface configured to face the substrate, and wherein the first portion and the second portion are moveable with respect to each other, and an adhesive is provided on the surface of the first portion.

Disclosed is a substrate processing system that includes a substrate processing apparatus configured to perform a predetermined processing on a substrate accommodated in a processing container. The substrate processing system includes: a processing execution unit configured to execute a film deposition processing on the substrate; a characteristic acquiring unit configured to acquire the characteristic of the film deposited on the substrate by the film deposition processing; and an abnormality determination unit configured to determine whether the characteristic of the film includes an abnormal value based on the characteristic of the film acquired by the characteristic acquiring unit.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to apparatus, systems, and methods for in-situ film growth rate monitoring. A thickness of a film on a substrate is monitored during a substrate processing operation that deposits the film on the substrate. The thickness is monitored while the substrate processing operation is conducted. The monitoring includes directing light in a direction toward a crystalline coupon. The direction is perpendicular to a heating direction. In one implementation, a reflectometer system to monitor film growth during substrate processing operations includes a first block that includes a first inner surface. The reflectometer system includes a light emitter disposed in the first block and oriented toward the first inner surface, and a light receiver disposed in the first block and oriented toward the first inner surface. The reflectometer system includes a second block opposing the first block.