Semiconductor Thermal Processing Apparatus and Method for Transferring Workpieces by Carrier Device Thereof

A semiconductor thermal processing apparatus, comprising:

• process chambers, wherein the process chambers are assigned into one or more chamber groups;
• one or more carrier devices configured to carry a workpiece to be processed, wherein each of the carrier devices is in a one-to-one correspondence with one of the chamber groups;
• one or more transfer actuators, wherein each of the transfer actuators is in a one-to-one correspondence with one associated carrier device and is configured to drive the associated carrier device to perform a transfer-in action or a transfer-out action;
• wherein the transfer-in action or the transfer-out action is configured to transfer, by the connected carrier device, the workpiece into or out of one of the process chambers from its assigned chamber group;
• a controller communicatively connected to the transfer actuators, wherein the controller is configured to receive a transfer-in instruction or a transfer-out instruction to a designated process chamber which is assigned to one of the chamber groups, and to control the associated transfer actuator, so as to perform the transfer-in action or the transfer-out action by the connected carrier device according to the transfer-in instruction or the transfer-out instruction;
• and
• a host computer communicatively connected to the controller, wherein the host computer is configured to transmit the transfer-in instruction or the transfer-out instruction to the controller using a preset scheduling method.