Tokyo Electron Limited

Masaki Sohma

Keiichi Tanaka

Masahito Ozawa

Shinsuke Asao

Shigeru Kasai

Katsumi Sekiguchi

Masato Kubodera

A heat treatment system for controlling the temperature in a processing vessel. The system includes a cylindrical processing vessel; a supporting table, raised by a support from the bottom portion of the processing vessel, for mounting thereon an object to be processed; and a processing object heating part provided in the supporting table, for heating the object to be processed. In addition a thermoelectric conversion element capable of selectively heating or cooling is provided in the bottom portion of the processing vessel, a resistive heater is provided in the side wall of the processing vessel, and a temperature control part for controlling the operations of the thermoelectric conversion element and the resistive heater is provided. Thus, it is not only possible to appropriately control the temperature in the processing vessel, but it is also possible to reduce space and energy, by combining the resistive heater with a thermoelectric conversion element.

Heat treating device

A process system comprises cassette housing chambers A and B, each of which houses therein a cassette C having housed an object W to be processed, and process chambers A through D for carrying out a predetermined process for the object W. The cassette housing chambers A and B are connected to the process chambers A through D via a transfer chamber . In the transfer chamber , there are provided a first transfer unit for delivering the object W between the cassette housing chambers A and B and the transfer chambers A through D, and a second transfer unit for delivering the object W between the process chambers A through D and the transfer chamber . In the overlapping range of transfer ranges of the first and second transfer units and , an aligning unit for aligning the object W is arranged.

Process system with transfer unit for object to be processed

An auxiliary vacuum chamber,according to the invention comprises a container,having an opening,for taking an object to be processed W into and out of the container. A holder,is movably placed in the container,, which can hold the object W taken therein. The holder,can also form a hermetically closed space,with a portion of the container,when moved in the container,. The container,is provided with supplying means,for supplying a gas from the outside of the container,into the hermetically closed space,. The container,is also provided with exhaust means,for exhausting the gas from the hermetically closed space,to the outside of the container,. According to the invention, the auxiliary vacuum chamber,need not have gate-valves for being opened and shut to the other chambers,and

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Nirasaki, Japan

Masaki Sohma