The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 06, 1995
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A processing apparatus is provided with a reaction furnace for subjecting semiconductor wafers, which are objects to be processed, to a predetermined processing; a storage rack for storing carriers (wafer cassettes), each containing a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers; and a conveyor for conveying the carriers into and out of the reaction furnace and the storage rack. In this case, a second conveyor mechanism, which comprises the storage portion and at least part of the conveyor, and a third conveyor mechanism are disposed within a sealed chamber in such a manner that they are isolated from the outer atmosphere. An exchange chamber that can be isolated from the outer atmosphere is further provided, for temporarily storing carriers that are to be conveyed into or out of the storage portion, through the sealed chamber via a communicating port. The interiors of the sealed chamber and the exchange chamber are formed so that they can be supplied with nitrogen. This ensures that unprocessed and processed semiconductor wafers can be held in an inert gas environment, so that contamination of the semiconductor wafers by organic substances and heavy metals can be prevented.