A substrate storage container and a gas replacement unit capable of reducing variations in humidity or concentration of gas in a space above a substrate are provided. The substrate storage container comprises a container body having an opening and is capable of containing substrates, a lid, at least one intake valve for supplying gas to the inside of the container body, and at least one gas replacement unit which blows out the supplied gas wherein the at least one intake valve is attached to the back, bottom surface of the container body. The gas replacement unit includes a housing member and a cover member. The housing member has a plurality of first group blowout holes in the vertical direction, and the opening area of the top first group blowout hole is larger than the opening, area, of the second of the first group blowout holes.

Disclosed is a substrate treating apparatus. In the substrate treating apparatus, a pusher is provided at a position accessible by a first transport mechanism, and a posture turning unit is provided at a position accessible by a center robot. A second transport mechanism receives substrates in a vertical posture held by the pusher, and delivers the substrates to the posture turning unit. The second transport mechanism includes two horizontal chucks configured to hold the substrates in the vertical posture while radially supporting two side portions of each of the substrates. The posture turning unit includes an upper and lower chucks for radially supporting an upper portion and a lower portion of each of the substrates in the vertical posture held by the two horizontal chucks to receive the substrates in the vertical posture from the two horizontal chucks, and upper and lower chuck rotation unit for rotating the upper and lower chucks around a horizontal axis.

A wafer storage elevator and method for detecting wafer position shift. The elevator includes a first storage elevator sidewall, a second storage elevator sidewall, and a storage seat positioned between the first and second storage elevator sidewalls. A first mirror block is coupled to a front side of the storage seat having a mirror positioned on a top surface of the block, and a second mirror block is coupled to the front side of the storage seat having a mirror that is positioned on the top surface of the second mirror block. The mirror of the first mirror block reflects a laser beam from an emission sensor to the second mirror block, and the mirror of the second mirror block reflects the laser beam from the mirror of the first mirror block to a receive sensor. A wafer misalignment is determined based upon an output of the receive sensor.

Substrates can be suppressed from being separated from supporting grooves. A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate holding unit and a processing tub. The substrate holding unit is configured to hold multiple substrates. The processing tub is configured to store a processing liquid therein. The substrate holding unit comprises a supporting body, an elevating device and a restriction unit. The supporting body has multiple supporting grooves and is configured to support the multiple substrates with a vertically standing posture from below in the multiple supporting grooves, respectively. The elevating device is configured to move the supporting body between a standby position above the processing tub and a processing position within the processing tub. The restriction unit is configured to be moved up and down along with the supporting body by the elevating device and configured to restrict an upward movement of the substrates with respect to the supporting body.

A film-forming device which includes a chamber having a horizontal central axis, capable of maintaining a vacuum, and movable along the horizontal central axis, the chamber including an inner chamber and an outer chamber that houses the inner chamber; a workpiece holder that aligns and holds workpieces to be processed in multiple stages in the inner chamber; and a heater that heats an inside of the chamber.

In one embodiment, a susceptor for thermal processing is provided. The susceptor includes an outer rim surrounding and coupled to an inner dish, the outer rim having an inner edge and an outer edge. The susceptor further includes one or more structures for reducing a contacting surface area between a substrate and the susceptor when the substrate is supported by the susceptor. At least one of the one or more structures is coupled to the inner dish proximate the inner edge of the outer rim.

A horizontal substrate carrier is provided, for example a carrier for holding semiconductor substrates during horizontal thermal processing. The horizontal substrate carrier has asymmetrically placed support rails. One side of the horizontal substrate carrier has no upper rail while the other side of the horizontal substrate carrier has an upper rail placed at a relatively high location, for example at an angular location of 60 or more, more preferably of 70 or more, and most preferably at 90. The side without an upper rail may be used for robotic loading of the horizontal substrate carrier. In a preferred embodiment, only three rails are provided: one upper rail on one side and two lower rails. The use and placement of these three rails can hold the substrate in precise uniform locations, minimize substrate movement, and minimize particle generation, all while allowing for easy robotic access.

A vapor reduction device for a semiconductor wafer has a plurality of heat plates which are spaced arranged longitudinally for receiving a plurality of wafers, the heat plates are integrated into a heating frame which is further placed into a casing. The movements of the heat plates within the casing causes that the wafers can be heated rapidly and uniformly so as to evaporated vapor effectively. The heat plates are separable from the heating frame and thus a number of the heat plates is selectable as desired. The heating temperature for the heat plates is controllable independently so that the temperatures of the wafers are controllable so that the temperature differences of the wafers are controllable to be uniformly distributed.

A posture changing device changes the posture of a substrate from one of horizontal and vertical postures to the other posture. In the posture changing device, before transfer of the substrate between a vertical holder and a pusher, a controller controls a holder shifting mechanism on the basis of a warped state of the substrate to shift the position in the thickness direction of a horizontal holder by a shift distance from the vertical holder, the shift distance being determined on the basis of the warped state. Thus, it is possible to suitably transfer the substrate between the vertical holder and the pusher, even if the substrate is warped, while preventing the substrate from coming into contact with the horizontal holder.

A semiconductor substrate carrying container, such as a front opening unified pod or shipping box, that includes a container shell having a plurality of walls, a front, and a rear, the plurality of walls defining an interior space that is sized to be able to receive a plurality of semiconductor substrates or trays, and a support structure configured to receive the plurality of semiconductor substrates or trays. The support structure includes at least one support wall that is formed by a plurality of corrugation portions provided along opposite sides of a centerline along a vertical plane at a center of the at least one support wall.