Vertical batch furnace assembly

Abstract

A vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers includes a cassette handling space, a wafer handling space, and a first wall separating the cassette handling space from the wafer handling space. The wall has a wafer transfer opening. The wafer transfer opening is associated with a cassette turntable including a turntable table having a plurality of cassette support surfaces each configured to support a wafer cassette. The turntable table is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis by an actuator to transfer each cassette support surface to a wafer transfer position in front of the wafer transfer opening and at least one cassette load / unload position, wherein the vertical batch furnace assembly is configured to load a wafer cassette onto a cassette support surface of the turntable table in the at least one load / unload position or unload a wafer cassette therefrom.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to a vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers. Background Technology

[0002] A vertical batch processing furnace assembly for processing wafers includes a cassette handling space, a wafer handling space, and a wall separating the two spaces. The wall has a wafer transfer opening with a cassette door opener device, in front of which is a wafer transfer position for the wafer cassette. The cassette handling space is equipped with a cassette handling mechanism that can transfer wafer cassettes between the wafer transfer position and a cassette storage device for storing wafer cassettes. The cassette handling space may also be equipped with a transfer mechanism to move the wafer cassette from the wafer transfer position to the cassette door opener device, such that the cassette door opener device can engage the wafer cassette and open its lid. The wafer handling space of the vertical batch processing furnace assembly may also be equipped with a wafer manipulator that can remove wafers from the wafer cassette engaged with the cassette door opener device and transfer those wafers through the transfer opening into a wafer boat for processing in the processing chamber. After processing, the wafer manipulator can also return the wafer to the wafer cassette engaged with the cassette door opener device. The cassette door opener device can release the engaged wafer cassette, and the transfer mechanism can move the wafer cassette back to the wafer transfer position. Subsequently, the cassette manipulator can transfer the cassette to the cassette memory and replace it with another cassette from the cassette memory. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This summary is provided to present the selected concepts in a simplified form. These concepts are further described in detail in the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] It is understood that multiple wafer cassettes typically need to be unloaded to fill the entire wafer boat. During the transport of wafer cassettes to and from the wafer transfer location, the wafer manipulator may be unable to transfer wafers and remain idle. During engagement of the wafer cassette with the cassette door opener, the cassette manipulator may be unable to transport the wafer cassette to or from the wafer transfer location and remain idle. This idleness may negatively impact the efficiency of the vertical batch furnace assembly.

[0005] Therefore, the objective is to provide a vertical batch furnace assembly with improved wafer cassette processing.

[0006] Therefore, a vertical batch furnace assembly according to claim 1 can be provided. More specifically, a vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers can be provided. The vertical batch furnace assembly may include a cassette handling space, a wafer handling space, and a first wall. The first wall may separate the cassette handling space from the wafer handling space and may have at least one wafer transfer opening. In front of the at least one wafer transfer opening, a wafer transfer position for a wafer cassette may be located on the side of the first wall facing the cassette handling space. The at least one wafer transfer opening may be associated with at least one cassette turntable. The at least one cassette turntable may include a turntable having a plurality of cassette support surfaces, each cassette support surface being configured to support a wafer cassette. The turntable may be rotated about a substantially vertical axis by an actuator to transfer each cassette support surface to at least one cassette loading / retrieval position and to a wafer transfer position in front of the wafer transfer opening. The vertical batch furnace assembly may be configured to load or retrieve wafer cassettes onto or from the cassette support surfaces of the turntable in at least one loading / retrieval position.

[0007] To summarize the invention and the advantages obtained compared to the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the invention have been described above. It should be understood, of course, that not all of these objects or advantages may be achieved by any particular embodiment of the invention. Therefore, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be practiced or performed in a manner that achieves or optimizes one or more advantages taught or suggested herein, without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages that may be taught or suggested herein.

[0008] Various embodiments are claimed in the dependent claims, and these embodiments will be further illustrated with reference to the examples shown in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments may be applied in combination or separately from each other.

[0009] All these embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of the invention disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of certain embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the invention is not limited to any particular embodiment disclosed. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Although the specification concludes with claims that specifically point out and expressly claim protection for embodiments of the invention, the advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be more readily determined from the description of certain examples of embodiments of the present disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0011] Figure 1 A top cross-sectional view of the box operating space of an example of a vertical batch furnace assembly according to this specification is shown; and

[0012] Figure 2 It shows Figure 1Example side view section diagram. Detailed Implementation

[0013] In this application, similar or corresponding features are indicated by similar or corresponding reference numerals. The description of various embodiments is not limited to the examples shown in the drawings, and the reference numerals used in the detailed description and claims are not intended to limit the description of the embodiments, but rather to illustrate the embodiments by referring to the examples shown in the drawings.

[0014] Although certain embodiments and examples are disclosed below, those skilled in the art will understand that the invention extends beyond the specific disclosed embodiments and / or uses of the invention and their obvious modifications and equivalents. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the disclosed invention should not be limited to the specific disclosed embodiments described below. The illustrations presented herein are not intended to be actual views of any particular material, structure, or device, but are merely idealized representations used to describe embodiments of this disclosure.

[0015] As used herein, the term “wafer” can refer to any one or more of the following materials that can be used, or materials on which devices, circuits or films can be formed.

[0016] In the most general sense, this disclosure provides a vertical batch furnace assembly 10 for processing wafers. The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include a cassette handling space 12, a wafer handling space 14, and a first wall 16. The first wall 16 separates the cassette handling space 12 from the wafer handling space 14 and may have at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20. In front of the at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20, wafer transfer positions 22, 24 for wafer cassettes 26 may be located on the side of the first wall 16 facing the cassette handling space 12. The at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20 may be associated with at least one cassette turntable 28, 30. The at least one cassette turntable 28, 30 may include a turntable 32 having a plurality of cassette support surfaces 34, each cassette support surface 34 configured to support the wafer cassette 26. The turntable 32 can be rotated about a generally vertical axis 36 by an actuator to convey each cassette support surface 34 to at least one cassette loading / retrieval position 38, 40 and to wafer transfer positions 22, 24 in front of wafer transfer openings 18, 20. The vertical batch furnace assembly, in particular the cassette maneuvering mechanism, can be configured to load or retrieve wafer cassettes 26 onto or from the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 at at least one loading / retrieval position 38, 40.

[0017] With the aid of at least one cassette turntable 28, 30 according to this specification, the positions where the cassette manipulators 44, 46 place the wafer cassette 26 on the turntable 32 and the positions where the wafer is transferred from it to the wafer boat are different. This means that the vertical batch furnace assembly 10, in particular its wafer manipulators, can transfer wafers from the wafer cassette 26 placed at the wafer transfer positions 22, 24, and the vertical batch furnace assembly 10, in particular its cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46, can simultaneously transfer another wafer cassette 26 to the loading / retrieval positions 38, 40. The opening or closing of the wafer cassette 26 and the loading / unloading of wafers can be stopped only when the turntable 32 is rotated by the actuator. This can be much shorter than the time typically required to transfer the wafer cassette 26 with the cassette manipulators 44, 46 from the wafer transfer positions 22, 24 to the cassette memory and transfer a new wafer cassette 26 or vice versa. Therefore, this solution may be advantageous compared to solutions that simply increase the processing speed of the cassette manipulators 44, 46. High-speed handling of the wafer cassette 26 can cause various other problems, such as an increased risk of chip release, which may lead to a higher scrap rate for the produced wafers. This problem can be mitigated because the cassette maneuvers 44, 46 can simultaneously transport the wafer cassette 26 to and / or from the cassette loading / retrieval positions 38, 40 and / or from them while transporting the wafer to the wafer boat. This means that the cassette maneuvers 44, 46 can spend more time on the transport, and the cassette maneuvers 44, 46 can move relatively slowly and therefore smoothly. Consequently, the cassette maneuvers 44, 46 can be relatively simple and therefore less expensive, and the smooth transport of the wafer cassette 26 reduces chip release.

[0018] Another advantage of this configuration is that the cassette can be left empty on the turntable after the wafers have been transferred to the wafer boat for processing by the wafer manipulator. Therefore, when the next action is to unload the processed wafer boat, the empty cassette is already on the turntable. By leaving the empty cassette on the turntable, the "job" done by the cassette manipulator is cut in half, as it doesn't have to move and store the empty cassette. If this operation is done on two turntables, six cassettes can be used in this way, which is equivalent to a nice fully loaded boat containing 150 wafers.

[0019] Another advantage is that, in the case of filling wafers or dummy wafers, the cassette for filling wafers or dummy wafers can be kept on the turntable while the filling wafers are continuously transferred between the filling cassette and the boat.

[0020] In one embodiment, each turntable 32 may include three cassette support surfaces 34. At least one cassette loading / receiving position 38, 40 may include a first loading / retrieval position 38 and a second loading / retrieval position 40. The turntable 32 is rotatable to transfer each of the three cassette support surfaces 34 to the first loading / retrieval position 38, the second loading / retrieval position 40, and the wafer transfer positions 22, 24.

[0021] Multiple wafer cassettes 26 can be placed simultaneously on the turntable 32 by having a first loading / retrieval position 38 and a second loading / retrieval position 40. This ensures that there are always available wafer cassettes 26 on the turntable 32 that can be rotated to wafer transfer positions 22, 24.

[0022] In one embodiment, at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20 includes: a first wafer transfer opening 18 having a first wafer transfer position 22 disposed in front of it; and a second wafer transfer opening 20 having a second wafer transfer position 24 disposed in front of it.

[0023] At least one cassette tray 28, 30 may include a first cassette tray 28 and a second cassette tray 30. The first cassette tray 28 may be associated with a first wafer transfer opening 18, and the second cassette tray 30 may be associated with a second wafer transfer opening 20. The first and second cassette trays 28, 30 may have collinear vertical axes.

[0024] The cassette manipulation space 12 may include a cassette memory. The cassette memory may have multiple cassette storage locations 42 and may be configured to store multiple wafer cassettes 26. The cassette memory may, for example, include multiple racks, each rack having multiple cassette storage locations 42, for example stacked on top of and / or adjacent to each other. Alternatively or additionally, the cassette memory may include a storage turntable having a storage turntable stage on which the cassette storage locations 42 are disposed. The first cassette turntable 28 and the second cassette turntable 30 may be spaced apart in the vertical direction. The cassette memory may include at least one cassette storage turntable between the first cassette turntable 28 and the second cassette turntable 30.

[0025] By having a second wafer transfer opening 20 in addition to the first wafer transfer opening 18, wafers can be transferred to the wafer boat through both openings. This increases the throughput of the vertical batch furnace assembly, thereby improving its efficiency. With cassette trays 28 and 30 associated with each wafer transfer opening 18, 20, the advantages of at least one cassette tray 28, 30 apply to each transfer opening 18, 20, thus making the vertical batch furnace assembly even more efficient. With a cassette storage location 42 between the first cassette tray 28 and the second cassette tray 30, all available space in the cassette manipulation space 12 can be optimally utilized.

[0026] In one embodiment, the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further be provided with a blower including elongated slit-shaped nozzles that substantially span the height of the wafer cassette cover when the wafer cassette 26 is supported on the support surface 34 of the turntable 32 of at least one cassette turntable 28, 30. The blower may be configured to blow a curtain jet of gas substantially spanning the height of the cassette cover onto the cassette cover as the at least one cassette turntable 28, 30 conveys the wafer cassette 26 from at least one cassette loading / receiving position 38, 40 to a wafer conveying position 22, 24. The blower may be located near at least one cassette turntable 28, 30. The blower may be mounted to the first wall 16.

[0027] By blowing gas onto the lid, any contaminants or debris on the lid can be blown away. The use of a jet ensures a powerful burst of air reaches the lid, effectively removing contaminants / debris. Because the blower delivers a curtain-like jet that essentially spans the height of the lid, the entire height of the lid remains free of contaminants / debris. As the cassette turntables 28, 30 transport the wafer cassette 26 from at least one cassette loading / receiving position 38, 40 to the wafer transport position 22, 24, the entire width of the lid is conveyed across the blower. This means the blower can also blow away contaminants / debris across the entire width of the lid.

[0028] In one embodiment, a cartridge memory that may include a storage rack and / or a storage turntable may have 10 to 50 cartridge storage locations 42. The cartridge memory may, for example, have at least 40 cartridge storage locations 42.

[0029] Typically, approximately 50 to 250 wafers are needed to fill a wafer boat. About 25 wafers are typically stored in a wafer cassette. This means that typically 2 to 10 wafer cassettes are needed to fill one wafer boat. With at least 40 cassette storage locations 42, enough wafer cassettes 26 can be stored to fill at least two wafer boats, specifically about four. Therefore, the loading and unloading of the cassette manipulation space 12 can be significantly delayed while the vertical batch furnace is processing wafers from cassettes stored in the cassette manipulation space 12.

[0030] In one embodiment, the wafer cassette 26 may be implemented as a front-opening wafer cassette (FOUP). FOUPs are considered the industry standard housing for wafers. Using FOUPs facilitates the interchangeability of wafer cassettes between the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and other wafer processors.

[0031] In one embodiment, the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further include at least one cassette in / out port 48 and cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46. The at least one cassette in / out port 48 provides an inlet and outlet to and from the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 for exchanging wafer cassettes between the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 and the outside environment. The at least one cassette in / out port 48 may be disposed in a second wall 58 defining the cassette manipulator space 12. As described above, the cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46 may be configured like other cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46. The cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46 may be configured to transfer wafer cassettes 26 to and from the at least one cassette in / out port 48. Such cassette manipulator mechanisms 44, 46 can handle all wafer cassette transfers within the cassette manipulator space 12. This provides an efficient and cost-effective method for transferring wafer cassettes 26.

[0032] In one embodiment, the cassette manipulation mechanisms 44, 46 may include a first cassette manipulator 44 and a second cassette manipulator 46. The first cassette manipulator 44 may be configured to place the wafer cassette 26 onto the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in a first loading / retrieval position 38 and retrieve the wafer cassette 26 from the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the first loading / retrieval position 38. The second cassette manipulator 46 may be configured to place the wafer cassette 26 onto the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in a second loading / retrieval position 40 and retrieve the wafer cassette 26 from the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the second loading / retrieval position 40.

[0033] Alternatively, both the first box manipulator 44 and the second box manipulator 46 can be configured to place the wafer cassette 26 onto the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the first loading / retrieval position 38 and retrieve the wafer cassette 26 from the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the first loading / retrieval position 38, and to place the wafer cassette 26 onto the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the second loading / retrieval position 40 and retrieve the wafer cassette 26 from the cassette support surface 34 of the turntable 32 in the second loading / retrieval position 40.

[0034] Each box manipulator 44, 46 may be provided with a box manipulator arm 50 and a lifting mechanism 52, which may be configured to reach the box storage position 42 at different vertical heights within the box manipulator space 12.

[0035] The lifting mechanism 52 of the first box operator 44 and the lifting mechanism 52 of the second box operator 46 can be arranged on or adjacent to the third wall 60 and the fourth wall 62, respectively, with the third wall 60 and the fourth wall 62 defining the box operation space 12 at their opposite ends.

[0036] With two cassette manipulators 44 and 46 respectively associated with the first or second loading / retrieval positions 38 and 40, the two cassette manipulators 44 and 46 can simultaneously transfer the wafer cassette 26 to and from at least one cassette turntable 28 and 30. This means that the wafer cassette 26 can be transferred from the cassette memory more quickly, which means improved efficiency. By arranging the lifting mechanism 52 of the first cassette manipulator 44 opposite to the lifting mechanism 52 of the second cassette manipulator 46, the arms 50 of the two cassette manipulators 44 and 46 can cover different portions of the cassette manipulating space 12. Both can operate simultaneously without interfering with each other. Moreover, both can be equipped with relatively short arms 50 while still being able to cover the entire cassette manipulating space 12.

[0037] In one embodiment, at least one cassette turntable 28, 30 may be provided with a transfer mechanism 54. The transfer mechanism 54 may be configured to move a wafer cassette 26 supported on a cassette support surface 34 at wafer transfer positions 22, 24 toward and / or away from a first wall 16 having at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20.

[0038] For each wafer transfer opening 18, 20, the vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may include a cassette door opener device. The cassette door opener device 56 may be disposed on the first wall 16 and may be configured to engage with and open the cassette door of the engaged wafer cassette 26 as it moves toward the first wall 16 via the transfer mechanism 54.

[0039] The vertical batch furnace assembly 10 may further include a wafer manipulator, a processing chamber, and a wafer boat manipulator. The wafer manipulator may be located in the wafer manipulator space 14 and configured to transfer wafers between the wafer cassette 26, which is coupled to the cassette opener device 56, and the wafer boat. The processing chamber may be configured to process wafers housed in the wafer boat. The wafer boat manipulator may be located below the processing chamber and adjacent to the wafer manipulator space 14. The wafer boat manipulator may have a wafer boat positioned at a wafer boat transfer location and may be configured to transport the wafer boat to the processing chamber and to the wafer boat transfer location.

[0040] At least one cassette turntable 28, 30 can rotate the wafer cassette 26 to a wafer transfer position 22, 24 located in front of at least one wafer transfer opening 18, 20. By means of the transfer mechanism 54, the wafer cassette 26 can be moved toward and / or away from the cassette door opener device 56 arranged on the first wall, so that wafers in the wafer cassette 26 can be loaded into / unloaded from the wafer cassette 26 by a wafer manipulator.

[0041] Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described above in part with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. By studying the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims, those skilled in the art will understand and implement variations of the disclosed embodiments in practicing the claimed invention.

[0042] Throughout this specification, references to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Therefore, the phrases "in an embodiment" or "in one embodiment" appearing throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0043] Furthermore, it should be noted that one or more specific features, structures, or characteristics in the various embodiments described above can be used independently of each other and can be combined in any suitable manner to form new embodiments not explicitly described. The reference numerals used in the detailed description and claims do not limit the description of the embodiments, nor do they limit the claims. Reference numerals are for illustrative purposes only.

[0044] List of reference numerals

[0045] 10 – Vertical Batch Processing Furnace Assembly

[0046] 12-box manipulation space

[0047] 14 – Chip Manipulation Space

[0048] 16 – First Arm

[0049] 18 – First wafer transfer opening

[0050] 20 – Second wafer transfer opening

[0051] 22 – First chip delivery location

[0052] 24 – Second chip delivery location

[0053] 26 – Chip Box

[0054] 28 – First Turntable

[0055] 30 – Second turntable

[0056] 32 – Turntable

[0057] 34-Box Support Surface

[0058] 36 – Vertical axis

[0059] 38 – First loading / retrieval position

[0060] 40 – Second loading / retrieval position

[0061] 42 – Box storage location

[0062] 44 – First Box Manipulator

[0063] 46 – Second Box Manipulator

[0064] 48 – Box In / Out Ports

[0065] 50-box manipulator arm

[0066] 52 – Lifting Mechanism

[0067] 54 – Conveying Mechanism

[0068] 56 – Box door opener device

[0069] 58 – Second Wall

[0070] 60 – Third Wall

[0071] 62 – Fourth Wall

Claims

1. A vertical batch processing furnace assembly (10) for processing wafers, comprising: -Box manipulation space (12); -Chip manipulation space (14); as well as - A first wall (16) separates the cassette manipulation space (12) from the wafer manipulation space (14) and has at least one wafer transfer opening (18, 20) on the side of the first wall (16) pointing toward the cassette manipulation space (12), and the wafer transfer positions (22, 24) for the wafer cassette (26) are located in front of the at least one wafer transfer opening. The at least one wafer transfer opening (18, 20) is associated with at least one cassette turntable (28, 30), which includes a turntable (32) having a plurality of cassette support surfaces (34), each cassette support surface (34) configured to support a wafer cassette (26), wherein the turntable (32) is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis (36) by means of an actuator to transfer each cassette support surface (34) to: ● At least one cassette loading / retrieval position (38, 40), wherein the vertical batch furnace assembly is configured to load or retrieve a wafer cassette (26) onto or from a cassette support surface (34) of a turntable (32) at at least one loading / retrieval position (38, 40); and ●Wafer transfer positions (22, 24) in front of the wafer transfer openings (18, 20) Each turntable (32) includes at least three cassette support surfaces (34), wherein the at least one cassette loading / receiving position (38, 40) includes a first loading / retrieval position (38) and a second loading / retrieval position (40), wherein the turntable (32) is rotatable to transfer each of the three cassette support surfaces (34) to the first loading / retrieval position (38), the second loading / retrieval position (40), and the wafer transfer position (22, 24).

2. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 1, wherein, The at least one wafer transfer opening (18, 20) includes a first wafer transfer opening (18) with a first wafer transfer position (22) in front and a second wafer transfer opening (20) with a second wafer transfer position (24) in front.

3. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 2, wherein, The at least one cassette turntable (28, 30) includes a first cassette turntable (28) and a second cassette turntable (30), wherein the first cassette turntable (28) is associated with a first wafer transfer opening (18) and the second cassette turntable (30) is associated with a second wafer transfer opening (20), and wherein the first cassette turntable (28) and the second cassette turntable (30) have collinear vertical axes.

4. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 3, wherein, The cassette manipulation space (12) includes a cassette memory having a plurality of cassette storage locations (42) and configured to store a plurality of wafer cassettes (26), wherein the first cassette turntable (28) and the second cassette turntable (30) are vertically spaced apart, and wherein the cassette memory includes cassette storage locations (42) between the first cassette turntable (28) and the second cassette turntable (30).

5. The vertical batch furnace assembly according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising a blower including an elongated slit-shaped nozzle, wherein, when the wafer cassette (26) is supported on the support surface (34) of the turntable (32) of at least one cassette turntable (28, 30), the elongated slit-shaped nozzle substantially spans the height of the cassette cover (26). The blower is configured to blow a curtain jet of gas substantially spanning the height of the cassette cover onto the cassette cover when at least one cassette turntable (28, 30) conveys the wafer cassette (26) from at least one cassette loading / receiving position (38, 40) to the wafer conveying position (22, 24).

6. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 5, wherein, The blower is located near at least one turntable (28, 30).

7. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The box manipulation space (12) includes: - A cassette memory having multiple cassette storage locations (42) and configured to store multiple wafer cassettes (26); and - A cassette manipulation mechanism (44, 46) configured to transfer a wafer cassette (26) within the cassette manipulation space (12) to and from the cassette storage location (42). The box memory has 10 to 50 box storage locations (42).

8. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The wafer cassette (26) is implemented as a front-opening wafer cassette (FOUP).

9. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to any one of claims 1-4 further comprises: At least one box inlet / outlet port (48) is disposed in the second wall (58) defining the box maneuvering space (12); And a box manipulator mechanism (44, 46) configured to transfer the wafer box (26) to and from at least one box in / out port (48).

10. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 1, provided with a box manipulation mechanism (44, 46), comprising a first box manipulator (44) and a second box manipulator (46), wherein, The first box manipulator (44) is configured to place the wafer box (26) onto the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the first loading / retrieval position (38) and retrieve the wafer box (26) from the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the first loading / retrieval position (38), and wherein the second box manipulator (46) is configured to place the wafer box (26) onto the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the second loading / retrieval position (40) and retrieve the wafer box (26) from the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the second loading / retrieval position (40).

11. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 1, provided with a box manipulation mechanism (44, 46), comprising a first box manipulator (44) and a second box manipulator (46), wherein, The first box manipulator (44) and the second box manipulator (46) are both configured to place the wafer box (26) onto the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the first loading / retrieval position (38) and retrieve the wafer box (26) from the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the first loading / retrieval position (38), and to place the wafer box (26) onto the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the second loading / retrieval position (40) and retrieve the wafer box (26) from the box support surface (34) of the turntable (32) in the second loading / retrieval position (40).

12. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 10 or 11, wherein, The box manipulation space (12) includes a box memory having multiple box storage locations (42) and configured to store multiple wafer boxes (26), wherein each box manipulator (44, 46) is provided with a box manipulator arm (50) and a lifting mechanism (52) configured to reach the box storage location (42) at different vertical heights within the box manipulation space (12).

13. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 12, wherein, The lifting mechanism (52) of the first box manipulator (44) and the lifting mechanism (52) of the second box manipulator (46) are respectively arranged on or adjacent to the third wall (60) and the fourth wall (62), which define the box manipulator space (12) at opposite ends.

14. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The at least one cassette turntable (28, 30) is provided with a transfer mechanism (54) configured to move a wafer cassette (26) supported on a cassette support surface (34) at a wafer transfer position (22, 24) toward and / or away from a first wall (16) having at least one wafer transfer opening (18, 20).

15. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 14, wherein, For each wafer transfer opening (18, 20), the vertical batch furnace assembly (10) includes: - A box door opener device (56) is arranged on the first wall (16) and configured to engage with a wafer box (26) that moves toward the first wall (16) via a transfer mechanism (54) and open the box door of the engaged wafer box (26).

16. The vertical batch processing furnace assembly according to claim 15, wherein, The vertical batch furnace assembly (10) also includes: - A wafer manipulator located in the wafer manipulator space (14) and configured to transfer wafers between a wafer cassette (26) coupled to a cassette opener device (56) and a wafer boat. - A processing chamber configured to process wafers housed in a wafer boat; and - A wafer boat maneuvering device located below the processing chamber and adjacent to the wafer maneuvering space (14), wherein the wafer boat maneuvering device has a wafer boat at the wafer boat transport position and is configured to transport the wafer boat to the processing chamber and to the wafer boat transport position.

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