A substrate processing method includes a liquid discharging step of discharging liquid through a nozzle toward a predetermined supply region on the main surface of a substrate held on a substrate holding unit within a chamber, a humidified gas supplying step of supplying humidified gas with a humidity higher than the humidity within the chamber onto the main surface of the substrate to remove electrical charges carried on the substrate, and a spin-drying step of rotating the substrate about a predetermined rotational axis after the liquid discharging step to spin off the liquid component from the main surface of the substrate. The humidified gas supplying step is started before the start of the liquid discharging step and ended at a predetermined termination timing after the start of the liquid discharging step and before the spin-drying step.

The present disclosure describes an apparatus. The apparatus includes a chuck for placing an object thereon, a gas passage extending along a periphery of an outer sidewall of the chuck and separating the chuck into an inner portion and a sidewall portion, and a plurality of gas holes through the sidewall portion and configured to connect a gas external to the chuck to the gas passage.

Provided is a load port apparatus including: a mounting unit on which a pod housing a housed object is mounted; a frame portion provided to stand adjacent to the mounting unit and having a frame opening to which a main opening of the pod is connected; a door engageable with a lid for the main opening of the pod for opening and closing the frame opening and the main opening; a door drive mechanism which drives the door; an inner gas exhaust unit provided below an inner side of the frame opening to exhaust a gas from an inside of a mini environment connected to the pod through the main opening and the frame opening; and a corrosive gas detection sensor arranged between the frame opening and the inner gas exhaust unit or in an exhaust flow path of the inner gas exhaust unit.

Embodiments disclosed herein include a method of calibrating a processing chamber. In an embodiment, the method comprises placing a sensor wafer onto a support surface in the processing chamber, wherein a process kit displaceable in the Z-direction is positioned around the support surface. In an embodiment, the method further comprises measuring a first gap distance between the sensor wafer and the process kit with a sensor on an edge surface of the sensor wafer. In an embodiment, the method further comprises displacing the process kit in the Z-direction. In an embodiment, the method further comprises measuring an additional gap distance between the sensor wafer and the process kit.

According to one aspect of the technique, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including checking a leak from a process furnace before a substrate is processed. The checking includes: (a) measuring, by a partial pressure sensor provided at an exhaust pipe, an oxygen partial pressure value of a residual oxygen after the process furnace is vacuum-exhausted; (b) comparing the oxygen partial pressure value measured by the partial pressure sensor with a threshold value; and (c) when the oxygen partial pressure value is higher than the threshold value in (b), performing at least one among: purging the process furnace and evacuating the process furnace.

In a plasma processing method, a substrate is loaded onto a lower electrode within a chamber. A plasma power is applied to form plasma within the chamber. A voltage function of a nonsinusoidal wave having a DC pulse portion and a ramp portion is generated. Generating the voltage function may include setting a slope of the ramp portion and setting a duration ratio of the ramp portion to a cycle of the voltage function in order to control an ion energy distribution generated at a surface of the substrate. A bias power of the nonsinusoidal wave is applied to the lower electrode.

A measuring device is provided. The measuring device includes a base substrate, sensor electrodes, a temperature sensor, a high frequency oscillator, C/V conversion circuits for generating voltage signals corresponding to electrostatic capacitances of the sensor electrodes, an A/D converter for converting the voltage signals to digital values, a calculation unit for calculating measurement values indicating the electrostatic capacitances based on the digital values, and phase control circuits connected between the sensor electrodes and the high-frequency oscillator. Each of the conversion circuits includes an operational amplifier, and the high-frequency oscillator is connected to a non-inverting input terminal of the amplifier and is connected to an inverting input terminal thereof through a corresponding phase control circuit. The calculation unit stores parameters for setting admittances of the phase control circuits in association with temperatures and adjusts the admittances of the phase control circuits using a parameter associated with a detected temperature.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is as below. An exposed photoresist layer is developed using a developer supplied by a developer supplying unit. An ammonia gas by-product of the developer is discharged through a gas outlet of the developer supplying unit into a treating tool. The ammonia gas by-product is retained in the treating tool. A concentration of the ammonia gas by-product is monitored.

A method for operating a conveying system is provided. An overhead hoist transport (OHT) vehicle is provided, wherein the OHT vehicle includes a gripping member configured to grip and hold a carrier, and a receiver configured to receive a signal. The signal is transmitted to the receiver of the OHT vehicle. The OHT vehicle is moved toward the carrier, and the carrier is gripped by the gripping member of the OHT vehicle. A lifting force is determined based on a weight of a carrier, a number of workpieces in the carrier, or a vertical distance between the OHT vehicle and the carrier, and the lifting force is applied to the carrier.

The present invention discloses a semiconductor device and an oxygen removal method thereof. The semiconductor device comprises: a process cavity, an oxygen removal pipe and an oxygen detection device, wherein the oxygen detection device comprises an oxygen detection pipe, a switching ball valve and an oxygen sensor; the oxygen detection pipe comprises a first pipe, a second pipe and a third pipe which are arranged in parallel and all connected to the oxygen removal pipe and the switching ball valve; the oxygen sensor is arranged on the third pipe; and, the switching ball valve is constructed in such a way that the switching ball valve communicates the first pipe with the second pipe in an oxygen removal stage and communicates the first pipe with the third pipe in an oxygen detection stage.