WAFER LOADING METHOD

PURPOSE:To uniform the treatment of wafers and prevent the breakage thereof, by a method wherein wafers are loaded into and unloaded from a uniforming ring by scooping as well as lifting and lowering the wafers, and the ring loaded with the wafers is carried between a treating chamber and a sub-vacuum chamber. CONSTITUTION:A wafer 40 loaded as at 25 into a sub-vacuum chamber 20 from the outside is pushed up by means of a seat 23b and scooped up with a fork 27 and is then loaded into a uniforming ring 30 by means of a seat 23a moving vertically. The ring 30 is grasped as at 21 and sent into a treating chamber 10 through the pivoting motion of an arm 22. After treatment, the ring 30 is re- turned onto the seat 23a, and the wafer 40 is pushed out of the ring by the upward movement of the seat 23a and is then mounted on a belt 26 and carried to the outside through a similar movement. By this constitution, it is possible to facilitate the loading/unloading operation with respect to the uniforming ring. In addition, since wafers are not directly held with claws, any damage can be prevented.