A semiconductor device is made with a boat carrier including stainless steel. A Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer is formed over the boat carrier. A semiconductor package substrate is disposed over the boat carrier. A manufacturing step is performed on the semiconductor package substrate. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) is imparted on the boat carrier during the manufacturing step. The semiconductor package substrate is protected from the ESD by the PTFE layer.

A wafer boat supporting a silicon wafer to be processed provides a sufficient anchor effect between a deposit film and a SiC coating film formed on a base material, and suppresses generation of particles due to peeling off of the deposit film. The vertical wafer boat includes a plurality of columns, being made of SiC-based material having a SiC coating film on a surface thereof, which contains shelf plate portions for supporting wafers, and a top plate and a bottom plate for fixing upper and lower ends of the columns, wherein a supporting plane which is in contact with an outer peripheral portion of the wafer is provided on an upper surface of the shelf plate portion, and a surface roughness Ra of a lower surface of the shelf plate increases toward a front side of the shelf plate portion from a rear side.

Disclosed herein are a shaft for supporting a susceptor within an epitaxial growth apparatus, and an epitaxial growth apparatus having the same. In one example, the shaft for supporting a susceptor within an epitaxial growth apparatus includes a support column, a post, and a plurality of arms. The post is coupled with a support column. The post includes an infrared transmission reducing portion disposed proximately to the susceptor and having a lower transmissivity of infrared radiation than the support column. The plurality of arms extend radially from the support column and are configured to support the susceptor.

Disclosed is a graphite plate to solve a problem of poor performance uniformity of an epitaxial wafer obtained during carrying on epitaxial growth of material using the graphite plate. A graphite plate includes: a graphite plate body, includes a carrying recess and a recess located on one side of the carrying recess away from a central point of the graphite plate body; and a stopper, which is embedded in the recess in a matching manner, and the stopper protrudes from the bottom surface of the carrying recess to form a limiting structure.

A method for heat treatment of a plurality of semiconductor wafers horizontally placed on a supporting member coated with SiC in a vertical heat treatment furnace includes performing heat treatments while switching the supporting member and a heat treatment condition such that the supporting member is continuously used in a heat treatment under either one of a first condition and a second condition for a certain period of time and then continuously used in a heat treatment under the other condition for a certain period of time, wherein the heat treatment under the first condition is performed at 1000 C. or higher in an atmosphere containing a rare gas and not containing oxygen, and the heat treatment under the second condition is performed at 1000 C. or higher in an atmosphere containing oxygen and not containing a rare gas. As a result, slip dislocation can be inhibited.

A process for generating a compact alumina passivation layer on an aluminum component includes rinsing the component in deionized water for at least one minute, drying it for at least one minute, and exposing it to concentrated nitric acid, at a temperature below 10 C., for one to 30 minutes. The process also includes rinsing the component in deionized water for at least one minute, drying it for at least one minute, and exposing it to NH.sub.4OH for one second to one minute. The process further includes rinsing the component in deionized water for at least one minute and drying it for at least one minute. A component for use in a plasma processing system includes an aluminum component coated with an Al.sub.xO.sub.y film having a thickness of 4 to 8 nm and a surface roughness less than 0.05 m greater than a surface roughness of the component without the Al.sub.xO.sub.y film.

A method for conditioning a semiconductor chamber component may include passivating the chamber component with an oxidizer. The method may also include performing a number of chamber process operation cycles in a semiconductor processing chamber housing the chamber component until the process is stabilized. The number of chamber operation cycles to stabilize the process may be less than 10% of the amount otherwise used with conventional techniques.

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 (B4C).

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.

Apparatus and methods to process one or more wafers are described. The apparatus comprises a chamber defining an upper interior region and a lower interior region. A heater assembly is on the bottom of the chamber body in the lower interior region and defines a process region. A wafer cassette assembly is inside the heater assembly and a motor is configured to move the wafer cassette assembly from the lower process region inside the heater assembly to the upper interior region.