Semiconductor processing apparatus and method.

摘要

A susceptor (1) carrying semiconductor wafers (3) for processing is suspended from a compliant attachment (5) at its upper end and is lowered into a reaction chamber (9) for processing. At the completion of processing the susceptor (1) is withdrawn vertically to permit a robot (11) to unload the processed wafers (3) and load unprocessed wafers. In order to fix the position of the susceptor (1), during the loading operations, a support carriage (36) is moved into position to engage the lower end of the susceptor (1). Noxious and corrosive chloride vapors are simultaneously withdrawn from the reaction chamber by a vacuum line (55) attached to the support carriages (36).