A substrate liquid treatment apparatus includes an inner tank configured to store a treatment liquid and having an upper opening, an outer tank disposed outside the inner tank, and a lid movable between a close position for closing the upper opening of the inner tank and an open position for opening the upper opening of the inner tank. The lid includes a main portion that covers the upper opening of the inner tank when the lid is positioned at the close position, and a splash shielding portion connected to the main portion. When the lid is positioned at the close position, the splash shielding portion extends from a position higher than an upper end of a side wall of the inner tank adjacent to the splash shielding portion to a position which is lower than the upper end of the side wall and which is on the outer tank side of the side wall.

Described herein is a technique capable of processing a substrate uniformly using microwaves. According to one aspect of the technique of the present disclosure, there is provided a heating element used in a substrate processing apparatus configured to heat a substrate supported by a substrate retainer by microwaves and process the substrate, the heating element including a dielectric material of an annular shape capable of generating heat by the microwaves. An inner circumferential portion of the heating element is located outer than an outer circumferential portion of the substrate, and the heating element is supported by the substrate retainer without contacting the substrate.

A substrate processing apparatus, provided with a substrate carrier support to support a substrate carrier thereon. The carrier support comprises a top support surface to support the substrate carrier; a thermally insulating body of thermally insulating material; and, a primary heater to heat the carrier support. The thermally insulating body is provided at least between the support surface and the primary heater.

A workpiece management method includes a frame unit forming step of forming a frame unit with a workpiece supported in an opening of an annular frame via a resin sheet, a printing step of, after performing the frame unit forming step, printing identification information of the workpiece on the resin sheet in an area between an outer periphery of the workpiece and an inner periphery of the annular frame, a processing step of processing the workpiece by a processing machine, a separation step of separating the processed workpiece from the resin sheet, and a storage step of storing the resin sheet from which the workpiece has been separated. A sheet cutting machine suitable for use in the workpiece management method is also disclosed.

Methods and apparatus for supporting substrates are provided herein. In some embodiments, a substrate support for supporting a plurality of substrates includes: a plurality of substrate support elements having a ring shape configured to support a plurality of substrates in a vertically spaced apart relation; and a plurality of substrate lift elements interfacing with the plurality of substrate support elements and configured to simultaneously selectively raise or lower substrates off of or onto respective substrate support elements.

A heater and/or cooler chamber includes a heat storage block or chunk. In the block a multitude of parallel, stacked slit pockets are each dimensioned to accommodate a single plate shaped workpiece. Workpiece handling openings of the slit pockets are freed and respectively covered by a door arrangement. The slit pockets are tailored to snugly surround the plate shaped workpieces therein so as to establish an efficient heat transfer between the heat storage block or chunk and the workpieces to be cooled or heated.

An apparatus and a method for performing liquid treatment for a substrate are provided. The apparatus for treating the substrate includes a treating container having a treatment space inside the treating container, a substrate support unit to support a substrate in the treatment space, and a liquid supply unit to supply treatment liquid to the substrate supported by the substrate support unit. The liquid supply unit includes a nozzle, a supply line to supply the treatment liquid to the nozzle and having a first valve mounted in the supply line, and a discharge line branching from a branch point which is a point downstream of the first valve in the supply line to discharge the treatment liquid from the supply line, and having a second valve mounted in the discharge line. A valve is absent in an area between the branch point and the nozzle, in the supply line.

A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, comprising a processing chamber, a wafer boat and a plurality of wafer supports. The wafer boat is configured to accommodate a plurality of wafers and is receivable in the processing chamber for depositing a layer on each wafer. The wafer boat comprises at least two wafer boat posts, wherein each wafer boat post comprises a plurality of slots. Each wafer support comprises a support area configured to support at least a circumferential edge of a wafer, and a flange circumferentially surrounding the support area. The flange is receivable in and supported by the slots and has a width to create a distance between the circumferential edge of the wafer and the wafer boat posts. The distance is such that the wafer boat posts do substantially not influence a layer thickness of the layer which is deposited on the wafer during processing of the wafer.

A cassette which receives a substrate, and a substrate receiving system including a chamber which receives a cassette in which a substrate is loaded are provided. The cassette which receives a substrate includes: a plurality of slot supports stacked in a first direction; and a frame connected to the plurality of slot supports and extending in the first direction, wherein the plurality of slot supports and the frame are opened in an outward direction to receive the substrate, and are closed in an inward direction after the substrate is received.

The present disclosure is directed to a stocker utilizing one or more storage carriers to optimize the utilization of a storage compartment within the stocker. The stocker includes one or more storage towers each including one or more shelves that may be moved from a closed position to an opened position by being pulled outward by a hook of a forking structure. This forking structure is configured to lift up a corresponding storage carrier off the shelf to be transported to a storage carrier load port to position one or more workpieces or toolpieces within the storage carrier, which is then transported back to the corresponding shelf for storage. The utilization of the forking structure along with the pull out shelves allows for a large number of storage carriers to be stored within the storage compartment of the stocker.