A PECVD boat has at least one boat plate for accommodating wafers, for transport into and out of vacuum coating chambers. The boat plate is oriented vertically and has a plurality of U-shaped accommodating slots for accommodating wafers, which slots are oriented in the longitudinal direction of the boat plate and are open at the top, in such a way that the wafers inserted into the accommodating slots are aligned with the plate line of the boat plate.

An apparatus for carrying a plurality of photovoltaic structures is provided. The apparatus can include a pair of end plates, a set of stationary posts coupling together the end plates, and a wafer-locking mechanism that can be engaged when the apparatus changes orientation. At least one stationary post can be shaped like a comb and have a first array of comb teeth for separating the photovoltaic structures. The wafer-locking mechanism can be configured to lock the photovoltaic structures in position, thereby preventing motion-induced damage to the photovoltaic structures.

According to one aspect of a technique the present disclosure, there is provided a method of identifying a cause of an abnormality, including: (a) outputting an alarm indicating the failure detected based on sensor information; (b) acquiring a plurality of apparatus data comprising a plurality piece of the sensor information related to the alarm; (c) comparing each of the apparatus data with a threshold value; and (d) when none of the apparatus data acquired in (b) exceed the threshold value according to a comparison result in (c), identifying a specific apparatus data among the plurality of apparatus data closest to the threshold value as a factor of generating the alarm.

In a substrate arrangement apparatus, a holder elevating mechanism disposes each first substrate between each pair of second substrates, with the first and second substrates being alternately arranged front-to-front and back-to-back. Each substrate is curved in a first radial direction to one side in a thickness direction with a minimum curvature, and curved in a second radial direction orthogonal to the first radial direction to the one side in the thickness direction with a maximum curvature. The first radial direction of the first substrates, each arranged between each pair of the second substrates, is approximately orthogonal to the first radial direction of the second substrates. This improves uniformity in the up-down direction of the distance in the direction of arrangement between the first and second substrates that are alternately arranged adjacent to each other in the direction of arrangement.

The invention describes the ability to conduct multiple carrier substrate removal practices simultaneously. The fixture design is slotted in a manner to hold film frame rings and has the bottom region open without interference to the passage of the released carrier substrate. Slots in the fixture are arranged on two sides at top and bottom to support the film frame, however, the distance between the slots and the area of the open region is sufficient to allow the carrier substrate to travel downwards under gravity force, once it has been released from the device wafer. The method describes a batch process whereby a fixture design supports multiple film frames with taped adhered device wafers enable exposure to a chemical medium that either acts upon the interface between the device wafer and carrier substrate or digests the carrier substrate in a manner that results in removal.

A wafer boat is described for the plasma treatment of disc-shaped wafers, in particular semiconductor wafers for semiconductor or photovoltaic applications, which has a plurality of plates positioned parallel to each other made of an electrically conductive material which have at least one carrier for a wafer on each side which faces another plate and define a receiving space for the wafers on the plates. The wafer boat also has a plurality of spacer elements, which are positioned between directly adjacent plates in order to position the plates parallel to each other, wherein the spacer elements are electrically conductive. Also a plasma treatment apparatus for wafers and a method for the plasma treatment of wafers is described. The apparatus has a process chamber for the reception of a wafer boat of the previously described type, means for controlling or regulating a process gas atmosphere in the process chamber and at least one voltage source, which is connectable to the plates of the wafer boat in a suitable manner, in order to apply an electrical voltage between directly adjacent plates of the wafer boat wherein the at least one voltage source is suitable for applying at least one DC-voltage or at least one low-frequency AC-voltage and at least one high-frequency AC-voltage. In the method, during the heating phase a DC-voltage or a low-frequency AC-voltage is applied to the plates of the wafer boat in such a way that the spacer elements heat up by current flowing therethrough, and during a processing phase a high-frequency AC-voltage is applied to the plates of the wafer boat, in order to generate a plasma between the wafers inserted into them.

In order to provide an improved introduction of high-frequency waves into a wafer boat, a plasma treatment apparatus for wafers, in particular for semiconductor wafers for semiconductor or photovoltaic applications, is provided, wherein the apparatus comprises a processing room for holding a wafer boat, the wafer boat having a plurality of electrically conductive carrier elements for the wafers, means of controlling or regulating a process gas atmosphere in the processing room, and at least one voltage source which can be connected with the wafer boat by means of a cable fed into the processing room. The cable is in the form of a coaxial cable with an inner conductor and an outer conductor, and a dielectric is provided between the inner conductor and the outer conductor in such a way that, when a high-frequency voltage is applied, the propagation speed and the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave in the coaxial cable is reduced as opposed to the propagation speed and the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave in a vacuum.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: forming a film on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times. The cycle includes non-simultaneously performing: supplying a precursor from a first nozzle to a substrate and exhausting the precursor from an exhaust port; supplying a first reactant from a second nozzle to the substrate and exhausting the first reactant from the exhaust port; and supplying a second reactant from a third nozzle to the substrate and exhausting the second reactant from the exhaust port. A substrate in-plane film thickness distribution of the film formed on the substrate is controlled by controlling a balance between a flow rate of an inert gas supplied from the second nozzle, a flow rate of an inert gas supplied from the third nozzle, and a flow rate of an inert gas supplied from the first nozzle in supplying the precursor.

Wafer boats for the plasma treatment of disc-shaped wafers, in particular semiconductor wafers for semiconductor or photovoltaic applications, and a plasma treatment apparatus for wafers are described. A wafer boat comprises a plurality of first carrier elements which are positioned parallel to one another, wherein each first carrier element has a plurality of carrier slits for receiving the edge of a wafer or wafer pair, and a plurality of second carrier elements which are positioned parallel to one another, which are each electrically conductive and have at least one recess for holding the edge region of at least one wafer or one wafer pair. An alternative wafer boat comprises a plurality of electrically conductive plate shaped carrier elements, which are positioned parallel to one another and which are less than half as high as the wafers to be received, wherein the carrier elements each have on their opposing sides at least three carrier elements for receiving wafers. The wafer boats can be held in the process chamber of the plasma treatment apparatus, and the plasma treatment apparatus comprises means for controlling or regulating a process gas atmosphere in the process chamber. The plasma treatment apparatus also comprises at least one voltage source which is connectable with the electrically conductive carrier elements of the wafer boat in a suitable manner to apply an electrical voltage between directly adjacent wafers held in the wafer boat.

Presented herein is a device processing boat comprising a base and at least one unit retainer disposed in the base. The device further comprises a cover having at least one recess configured to accept and retain at least one unit. The at least one recess is aligned over, and configured to hold the at least one unit over, at least a portion of the at least one unit retainer. The cover is retained to the device processing boat by the at least one unit retainer. At least one pressure sensor having at least one sensel is disposed in the base. The sensel is configured to sense a clamping force applied by the cover to the at least one unit.