Purge diffusers for use in systems for transporting substrates include: i) a purge diffuser core having an internal purge gas channel, one or more diffuser ports and an outer surface; ii) filter media secured to the outer surface of the purge diffuser core; and iii) a purge port connector for mounting the purge diffuser to a purge port of a substrate container for transporting substrates. The purge diffuser core may be a unitary article, may be formed by injection molding, and may include diverters internal to the internal purge gas channel.

Methods of installing a purge fluid conditioning element into an interior space of a semiconductor substrate carrying container are described. The purge fluid conditioning element is installed from outside the semiconductor substrate carrying container through a port formed in one of the walls of the container, where the port is sized to permit the purge fluid conditioning element to be inserted into the interior space of the container by installing the purge fluid conditioning element through the port. The wall may be a bottom wall of the container or another wall of the container. The described methods eliminate the need to install the purge fluid conditioning element from the inside of the container which can cause human contamination of the interior environment of the container.

Proposed are article storage equipment in a semiconductor fabrication facility, the article storage equipment being capable of power supply with a more simplified configuration, and a logistics system of a semiconductor fabrication facility including the same. Article storage equipment in a semiconductor fabrication facility according to one aspect includes a storage unit installed around a rail that provides a travel route of a transport vehicle and configured to store a transport container in which a wafer is accommodated, a purge unit configured to supply an inert gas into the transport container, a control unit configured to identify the transport container stored in the storage unit and control the purge unit to supply the inert gas into the transport container, and a power supply unit configured to supply a current induced from a power supply cable installed along the rail to the control unit.

A storage container in which a uniform flow velocity of the purge gas can be achieved is provided with a plurality of stages of storage units each having an accommodating region to accommodate an article. A supply portion supplies a purge gas; a duct portion communicates with other duct portions of other storage units and serves as a flow path for the purge gas supplied from the supply portion; and an introducing portion communicably connects the duct portion with the accommodating region and introduces the purge gas to the accommodating region. In the flow path for the purge gas in the duct portion, a diffusion member is arranged.

Embodiments of mechanisms for charging a gas into a cassette pod are provided. A method for charging a gas into a cassette pod includes loading at least one semiconductor wafer into a housing of the cassette pod after the at least one semiconductor wafer is processed by a processing apparatus. The method also includes removing the cassette pod from the processing apparatus by a transporting apparatus to a predetermined destination. The method further includes charging a gas into an enclosure in the housing of the cassette pod from a gas supply assembly disposed on the housing.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure includes providing a substrate, disposing a first semiconductive material over the substrate at a first temperature, disposing a second semiconductive material over the first semiconductive material at a second temperature, and disposing a third semiconductive material over the second semiconductive material at a third temperature, wherein a first interval between the first temperature and the second temperature is substantially same as a second interval between the second temperature and the third temperature.

A first control device executes, if it is determined that a second control device has become unable to output an operation instruction, continued operation processing for operating an inactive gas supply portion based on the operation instruction that was last output by the second control device. The first control device further executes, if it is determined during execution of continued operation processing that a stop condition is satisfied, operation stop processing for stopping the inactive gas supply portion by suspending the continued operation processing.

A photomask blank substrate container having an inner member, inner cassette and retainer member, container main body having a lower box and an upper lid, and a sealing tape, in which the container main body and inner member include a polymer-based material in which when 0.1 g of a sample thereof is retained at 40° C. for 60 minutes to release an outgas component, the outgas total amount detected by a gas chromatography mass spectrometer is 1.9×103 ng or less in terms of n-tetradecane, and the sealing tape is a material in which when a size of 10 mm×10 mm of a sample thereof is retained at 150° C. for 10 minutes to release an outgas component, the outgas total amount detected by a gas chromatography mass spectrometer is 1.8×103 ng or less in terms of n-tetradecane. This photomask blank substrate container allows storing and transporting the photomask blank substrate while suppressing influence on the resist pattern.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a first atmosphere control system configured to control an atmosphere inside a processing zone of a substrate processing area and a second atmosphere control system configured to control an atmosphere inside a substrate transfer zone of the substrate processing area. The first atmosphere control system supplies, when a liquid processing is performed in a liquid processing unit, an atmosphere control gas to the corresponding liquid processing unit by a first gas supply, and discharges an atmosphere inside the corresponding liquid processing unit by a first gas discharge unit. The second atmosphere control system circulates an atmosphere adjustment gas in a circulation system of the corresponding second atmosphere control system, and discharges an atmosphere inside the circulation system of the second atmosphere control system when at least one of the liquid processing unit is opened to the substrate transfer zone.

A purge configurable wafer shipper. The container includes an enclosure portion with an open side or bottom, a door to sealing close the open side or bottom. One of the door and the container portion includes an opening formed in the enclosure to provide a fluid passageway from an interior of the wafer shipper to an exterior region. The opening may include a module receiving structure that defines the fluid passageway. A sealing member is included for insertion into the module receiving structure. The sealing member has a body portion including a support flange positioned proximate a lower portion of the body portion, a circumferential groove in the exterior surface of the body portion, and an O-ring positioned at least partially within the circumferential groove.