Patent ID: 7452174

Claim:
Semiconductor device manufacturing equipment comprising: at least one process chamber in which a semiconductor device manufacturing process is performed; a transfer chamber to which each said at least one process chamber is connected, and a robot arm disposed in the transfer chamber; a wafer cassette having an open front, an open back, and configured to support a plurality of wafers as spaced apart from each other and each extending across the cassette from front to back, whereby wafers supported in the cassette will be exposed at the open back of the cassette; a load-lock having a load-lock chamber including a front wall and a back wall and defining an opening in the back wall of the load-lock chamber and sized to permit the wafer cassette to pass therethrough, and an exhaust port through which the load-lock chamber is evacuated, a slit valve disposed at the front wall of the load-lock chamber, the slit valve being openable and closable to selectively place the interior of the load-lock chamber in communication with the interior of the transfer chamber through the front wall, a door disposed over the opening in the back wall of the load-lock chamber, the door being mounted to the chamber so as to be openable and closable to uncover and cover the opening, respectively, whereby the wafer cassette can be inserted into the chamber through the back thereof when the door is opened, and a wafer cassette holder disposed in the load-lock chamber and configured to support the wafer cassette upright in the load-lock chamber with the open back of the cassette facing the door of the load-lock between the front and rear walls of the load-lock chamber; an exhaust system connected to the exhaust port of the load-lock chamber; and wafer anti-contamination means for preventing wafers from being contaminated while in a wafer cassette supported by the wafer cassette holder in the chamber of the load-lock.