A wafer stocker is capable of further improving an environment around wafers. The wafer stocker includes a housing, a loading device provided on a front surface of the housing, a wafer cassette shelf arranged in the housing, a wafer transfer robot configured to move the wafers from a transfer container mounted on the loading device to a wafer cassette in the wafer cassette shelf, a wafer cassette delivery device configured to move the wafer cassette in the wafer cassette shelf to a stage having a different height, and a fan filter unit configured to generate a laminar flow in a wafer transfer space and in a wafer cassette transfer space.

Particles in an accommodation chamber are also easily discharged while facilitating replacement of an atmosphere in the accommodation chamber with an inert gas. An EFEM includes a load port 4, a housing configured to define, in the housing, a transfer chamber closed by connecting the load port 4 to an opening provided in a partition wall, a supply pipe for supplying nitrogen to a transfer chamber, and a discharge pipe 49 for discharging a gas in the transfer chamber. The load port 4 includes an opening/closing mechanism 54 capable of opening and closing a lid 101 of a mounted FOUP 100, and an accommodation chamber 60 kept in communication with the transfer chamber via a slit 51b and configured to accommodate a part of the opening/closing mechanism 54. The discharge pipe 49 is connected to the accommodation chamber 60 to discharge the gas in the transfer chamber via the accommodation chamber 60.

This disclosure provides a wafer processing method having the following steps: providing a wafer (10), an immersion device (100), a carrier (200), and a spray device (300); turning the wafer (10) from a horizontal manner to an upright manner; upright placing the wafer (10) into the immersion device (100) for immersion; taking the wafer (10) out from the immersion device (100) and placing that onto the carrier (200) horizontally; spraying a liquid on the wafer (10) by the spray device (300); rinsing the wafer (10); rotating the carrier (200) to dry the wafer (10). Multiple steps for processing the wafer (10) may be performed on the same carrier (200) to accelerate the process.

An EFEM is provided with a circulation path including a substrate transfer space formed inside a housing and a return path configured to return gas flowing from one side to the other side of the substrate transfer space, the EFEM including: a partition wall configured to separate the substrate transfer space and the return path; a capture part provided in the return path having a higher pressure than the substrate transfer space in a state in which the gas circulates through the circulation path, and configured to capture particles contained in the gas flowing through the return path; and a connecting pipe configured to guide the gas flowing inside a predetermined device arranged in the substrate transfer space to the return path, wherein the connecting pipe is connected to the return path on an upstream side of the capture part in a gas flow direction.

A load port of a factory interface of an electronic device manufacturing system can include a purge apparats, a docking tray configured to receive a substrate carrier including a substrate carrier door and a substrate carrier housing, a backplane located adjacent to the docking tray, and a carrier door configured to seal an opening in the backplane when the carrier door opener is closed. The carrier door opener can include an inlet gas line therethrough that is coupled to one or more components of the purge apparatus. The load port can also include a controller that is configured to detect that the substrate carrier is placed in a docking position on the docking tray. The substrate carrier placed in the docking position on the docking tray can form a gap between the substrate carrier housing and the backplane. The controller can also purge a space between the carrier door and the carrier housing and/or an area between the carrier door and the carrier door opener via the inlet gas line and the gap between the substrate carrier housing and the backplane. The controller can cause the purge apparatus to stop the purge and close the gap between the substrate carrier housing and the backplane.

A substrate loading device including a frame adapted to connect to a substrate processing apparatus, the frame having a transport opening through which substrates are transported to the processing apparatus, a cassette support connected to the frame for holding at least one substrate cassette container proximate the transport opening, the support configured so that a sealed internal atmosphere of the container is accessed from the support at predetermined access locations of the container, and the cassette support has a predetermined continuous steady state differential pressure plenum region, determined at least in part by boundaries of fluid flow generating differential pressure, so that the predetermined continuous steady state differential pressure plenum region defines a continuously steady state fluidic flow isolation barrier disposed on the support between the predetermined access locations of the container and another predetermined section of the support isolating the other predetermined section from the predetermined access locations.

Apparatus and methods for automatically handling die carriers are disclosed. In one example, a disclosed apparatus includes: at least one load port each configured for loading a die carrier operable to hold a plurality of dies; and an interface tool coupled to the at least one load port and a semiconductor processing unit. The interface tool comprises: a first robotic arm configured for transporting the die carrier from the at least one load port to the interface tool, and a second robotic arm configured for transporting the die carrier from the interface tool to the semiconductor processing unit for processing at least one die in the die carrier.

A wafer transport carrier includes various components to provide improved air sealing to reduce air leakage into the wafer transport carrier. The wafer transport carrier may include a housing having a hollow shell that contains a vacuum or an inert gas to minimize and/or prevent humidity and oxygen ingress into the wafer transport carrier, a wafer rack that is integrated into the shell of the housing to minimize and/or prevent air leakage around the wafer rack, and/or an enhanced magnet-based door latch to provide air sealing around the full perimeter of the opening of the housing. These components and/or additional components described herein may reduce and/or prevent debris, moisture, and/or other types of contamination from the semiconductor fabrication facility from entering the wafer transport carrier and causing wafer defects and/or device failures.

An EFEM includes a housing having a substantially closed substrate transfer space in the housing and a control part configured to perform a control of supplying an inert gas into at least the housing. The control part includes an inert gas total supply amount setting part configured to set a total supply amount of the inert gas to be supplied into the housing; a door open/purge determination part configured to determine whether a container door of a substrate storage container is in an open state and whether a purge device is performing a purge process; and an in-housing inert gas supply amount calculation part configured to calculate a supply amount of the inert gas to be supplied into the housing. The supply amount of the inert gas to be supplied into the housing is determined according to an inert gas supply amount command value determined based on a calculation result.

A substrate processing apparatus including a frame defining a chamber with a substrate transport opening and a substrate transfer plane defined therein, a valve mounted to the frame and being configured to seal an atmosphere of the chamber when closed, the valve having a door movably disposed to open and close the substrate transport opening, and at least one substrate sensor element disposed on a side of the door and oriented to sense substrates located on the substrate transfer plane.