Abstract: A vacuum processing system has a load lock chamber for transitioning wafers between an ambient environment pressure and a transfer chamber vacuum pressure. The load lock chamber has wafer supports for two wafers, but contains only one wafer during pressure transitioning. The load lock chamber further has a processing element, so that the load lock chamber performs a pre-processing or post-processing process on the wafer. The processing element may be a wafer heater, so that the load lock chamber may heat the wafer before or after the system performs a primary process on the wafer. The processing element may be a wafer cooler, so that the load lock chamber may cool down a wafer that has been heated before, during or after the primary process. The load lock chamber may have either a wafer heater or a wafer cooler or both.