Etching apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices

Abstract

An etching apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices which reduces contamination of the processing surface of a wafer by transporting a plurality of wafers stacked in a cassette with their processing surfaces facing down from the cassette supply chamber to one or more process chambers where the etching operation is performed on each wafer, one at a time. The apparatus has a load lock chamber for transferring the wafers stacked in the cassette from the cassette supply chamber, which is maintained under atmospheric conditions, to the process chamber, which is maintained under a strong vacuum. The process chamber has a cathode to which a wafer is clamped by a wafer holder with its processing surface facing down; the process chamber may also have a removable lower cover for easy repair and cleaning. The apparatus may also have a wafer aligning chamber installed between the cassette supply chamber and the load lock chamber for simultaneously aligning all of the wafers n the cassette before they are transported to the load lock chamber. The wafer aligning chamber also has a cassette transport mechanism for transferring the cassette from a cassette supply table in the cassette supply chamber to an elevator installed in the load lock chamber.