Two-piece shutter disk assemblies for use in process chambers are provided herein. In some embodiments, a shutter disk assembly for use in a process chamber includes an upper disk member having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein a central alignment recess is formed in a center of the bottom surface, and a lower carrier member having a solid base having an upper support surface, wherein the upper support surface includes a first central self-centering feature disposed in the recess formed in the center of the bottom surface and an annular outer alignment feature that protrudes upward from a top surface of the lower carrier and forms a pocket, wherein the upper disk member is disposed in the pocket.

A vertical wafer boat has an upper boat segment and a lower boat segment, with the upper boat segment configured to removably mount on the lower boat segment, and to receive one or more semiconductor substrates. The lower boat segment includes a top plate, a first set of adiabatic plates, and a second set of adiabatic plates. One or more posts connect the top plate, the first set of adiabatic plates, and the second set of adiabatic plates. The first set of adiabatic plates include a first set of gaps separating a first plurality of sections; the second set of adiabatic plates include a second set of gaps separating a second plurality of sections; and the first set of adiabatic plates and the second set of adiabatic plates are interleaved.

There is provided a technique that includes: a top plate made of a metal material; a bottom plate made of a metal material; and a plurality of pillars made of a metal material and provided between the top plate and the bottom plate, wherein a plurality of substrates are supported in a multistage manner by at least a part of the plurality of pillars, wherein relative locations between the top plate and the plurality of pillars and relative locations between the bottom plate and the plurality of pillars are positioned by a plurality of spigot structures, and wherein each of the plurality of pillars and each of the plurality of pillars are removably fixed to the top plate and the bottom plate, respectively, by using a plurality of fixing structures.

A method of manufacturing an actuator includes a first electrode layer forming step, a dielectric elastomer layer forming step, and a second electrode layer forming step, and obtains the actuator in which dielectric elastomer layers and electrode layers have been concentrically laminated. In the first electrode layer forming step, an electrode material is provided to an outer circumferential surface of a shaft section to form the electrode layer. In the dielectric elastomer layer forming step, a sheet-like or paste-like dielectric elastomer material is provided to an outer circumferential surface of the electrode layer to form the dielectric elastomer layer. In the second electrode layer forming step, the electrode material is provided to an outer circumferential surface of the dielectric elastomer layer to form the electrode layer.

There is provided a technique that includes a process chamber in which a substrate is processed; a plurality of substrate supports configured to support the substrate; a rotatable table including a plurality of supports configured to support the plurality of substrate supports; and a heat conduction insulator configured to suppress heat conduction between the plurality of supports.

A detachable etching tool for etching a plurality of silicon carbide pieces has a first supporting column and a second supporting column, both of which are fixed through a tool fixing block. A bracket is arranged on the tool fixing block, and a limiting rod is installed on the lower end surface of the bracket. The bracket is inserted into the tool fixing block through the limiting rod and fixed on the tool fixing block with a fastening mechanism that comprises a base, a fixing seat, a telescopic spring, a telescopic guide column, a sliding block, a guide block, an inserting rod and a push-pull mechanism. The etching tool addresses low productivity per unit time and long time consumption in the etching processing.

An insulating wafer-storing container for storing substrates inside the container is provided in which at least one exterior surface of the container is formed with a contact portion that is to be in contact with an object other than the container and a non-contact portion that is not to be in contact with the object when the object is brought into contact with the at least one exterior surface, and the area of the contact portion is 40% or less of the total of the area of the contact portion and the area of the non-contact portion.

An improved protective layer is provided for PECVD graphite boats for receiving wafers and for transporting the wafers in or through PECVD coating systems, in particular in the photovoltaics industry. A more homogeneous antireflection layer on silicon substrates is achieved by virtue of the PECVD boat of graphite being provided with an electrically conductive hard material coating of at least boron carbide (B.sub.4C).

An apparatus for thermal treatment of a substrate is provided. The apparatus has a heating device and a carrier provided with a support surface for the substrate. The apparatus permits a high substrate throughput. At least part of the carrier contains a composite material containing an amorphous matrix component and an additional component containing a semiconductor material, and a conductor path that is part of the heating device and made of an electrically conducting resistance material that generates heat when current passes through it is applied to a surface of the composite material.

An object of the present invention is to prevent a semiconductor substrate from being damaged when the substrate is conveyed by a conveying robot provided in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. A diffusion furnace apparatus has a diffusion furnace that processes a semiconductor wafer, a quartz boat that is arranged in the diffusion furnace to store the semiconductor wafer, and a conveying robot that delivers the semiconductor wafer between the quartz boat and a cassette carried in from the outside. Further, the conveying robot includes a column-like sensor support unit provided at a part that is not turned, and a first sensor that detects the presence or absence of the semiconductor wafer held on a plate of the conveying robot and a second sensor that detects the positional displacement of the semiconductor wafer held on the plate are provided at the sensor support unit.