Abstract: An exemplary substrate processing apparatus has a vacuum chamber and a load lock for gas removal. The load lock has a support table to support a substrate. A cover plate may be provided in the load lock, the cover plate having a lower surface facing the upper surface of the support table. Openings may be provided in the lower surface of the cover plate to allow removal of gas from over the substrate in a direction substantially normal to the lower surface. In an embodiment, a gas pressure between the upper surface of the support table and the substrate is initially reduced through the opening to a certain pressure below a concurrent load lock pressure. When the remainder of the load lock pressure has dropped below the certain, gas pressure between the upper surface of the support table and the substrate is reduced together with the remainder load lock pressure.

Abstract: To enable differentiation between a particle and a ghost particle, a detector system resolves radiation from a ghost particle from radiation from an actual particle. The detector system outputs at least two detector signals corresponding to intensities of radiation being incident on different parts of the detector system or the detector system outputs at least two detector signals corresponding to intensities of radiation with different wavelengths being incident on the detector system. If radiation is received from a ghost particle, not each of the at least two detector signals has a level above a predetermined threshold level, whereas radiation received from a particle results in the signals having substantially a same level above a threshold level.