In an embodiment, the present invention discloses a stackable substrate carrier for scalably storing, transporting or processing multiple substrates. The present substrate carriers can be stacked side-by-side by an attaching mechanism, forming an integrated carrier with double, triple or multiple capacity. The attaching mechanism comprises a locking mechanism to secure the substrate carriers together, engaged by mating two substrate carriers, together with an additional rotating or translating action of the two substrate carriers. Alternatively, the locking mechanism can be engaged by pressing two substrate carriers against each other, using friction to keep the carriers together. Other locking mechanism can also be used, such as hooks or latches.

A semiconductor wafer is as wide as the industry standard width A (presently 156 mm+/1 mm) and is longer than the industry standard A by at least 1 mm and as much as the standard equipment can reasonably accommodate, presently approximately 3-20 mm and potentially longer, thus, gaining significant additional surface area for sunlight absorption. Modules may be composed of a plurality of such larger wafers. Such wafers can be processed in conventional processing equipment that has a wafer retaining portion of industry standard size A and a configuration that also accommodates a wafer with a perpendicular second edge longer than A by at least 1 and typically 3-20 mm. Wet bench carriers and transport and inspection stations can be so used.

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.

This specification describes methods for processing semiconductor wafers, methods for loading semiconductor wafers into wafer carriers, and semiconductor wafer carriers. The methods and wafer carriers can be used for increasing the rigidity of wafers, e.g., large and thin wafers, by intentionally bowing the wafers to an extent that does not break the wafers. In some examples, a method for processing semiconductor wafers includes loading each semiconductor wafer into a respective semiconductor wafer slot of a semiconductor wafer carrier, horizontally bowing each semiconductor wafer, and moving the semiconductor wafer carrier into a processing station and processing the semiconductor wafers at the processing station while the semiconductor wafers are loaded into the semiconductor wafer carrier and horizontally bowed.

A substrate transfer device including a substrate-grasping hand and a holding member provided on the substrate-grasping hand, the holding member including a claw portion configured to hold a substrate and a support post portion supporting the claw portion. When a force acts on the claw portion the support post portion bends to reduce the force acting on the claw portion.

Substrate carrier can have drainage area leading the liquid away from the substrates, so that liquid droplet can be channeled away from the substrate area. The drainage area can include tilted lines and surfaces toward the ground away from the substrates. The carrier can further have drainage area leading the liquid to an end of the carrier, which then can be channeled to the ground without being free fall to the ground.

A plasma boat for receiving wafers with partial damping of the plasma deposition comprises a number of boat plates spaced apart in parallel, which are provided with wafer holders for receiving upright wafers, in order to securely hold the wafers during transport and during the depositing process in a coating chamber, and wherein the boat plates are mechanically connected to one another by electrically insulating spacers. This provides a plasma boat, with regulated plasma deposition, which ensures a deposition on wafers that is uniform over the surface area thereof and has a constant layer thickness. This is achieved by a damping element (12) being respectively arranged between the wafer holders (16) located parallel to one another, between adjacent boat plates (15), and electrically insulated with respect to the latter on spacer elements (2).

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, includes: supplying precursor gas into process chamber in which plural substrates are accommodated by sequentially performing: supplying inert gas at first inert gas flow rate from first nozzle into the process chamber; supplying the inert gas at second inert gas flow rate higher than the first inert gas flow rate from the first nozzle into the process chamber while supplying precursor gas from the first nozzle into the process chamber; and supplying the inert gas at the first inert gas flow rate from the first nozzle into the process chamber while the process chamber is evacuated from an upstream side of flow of the precursor gas; stopping supply of the precursor gas; removing the precursor gas remaining in the process chamber; supplying reaction gas from a second nozzle into the process chamber; and removing the reaction gas remaining in the process chamber.

Described herein is a technique capable of substantially cancelling out a machine difference of a pressure control valve. According to one aspect of the technique of the present disclosure, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a sensor detecting a valve opening degree; a first control circuit outputting a valve opening degree control signal based on a valve opening degree value detected by the sensor and a deviation between a pressure of the process chamber and a target vacuum pressure value; a second control circuit outputting an electropneumatic control signal based on the valve opening degree control signal; and a span adjustment circuit adjusting the first or second control circuit so that an upper limit value of the valve opening degree is set to a predetermined full opening degree less than a physically defined full opening degree.

A substrate processing system includes a substrate processing set and a substrate holding unit. The substrate processing set includes a substrate supporting part for supporting a vertical substrate. The substrate holding unit includes two cantilevers and two substrate holding parts. Each of the substrate holding parts is respectively located on each of the cantilevers. The two substrate holding parts are used for holding the substrate vertically. When the substrate holding unit moves next to the substrate processing set and the two substrate holding parts touch the substrate, the two substrate holding parts hold the substrate.