US Patent 8011381 Balanced purge slit valve

Methods and apparatus for providing a gas to a slit valve opening are provided herein. In one embodiment, a slit valve is described. The slit valve includes a housing having an opening, the opening defined by a plurality of interior sidewalls and sized to allow a substrate to pass therethrough, a door adapted to selectively seal the opening, a gas inlet formed in the housing, and a plurality of nozzles disposed in or on at least one of the plurality of interior sidewalls, each of the plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with the gas inlet and the opening.