Vacuum processing device

Abstract

To provide a vacuum processing device (100) capable of reducing a decline in processing throughput, said vacuum processing device (100) is provided with multiple vacuum transport chambers (41) (42) and a lock chamber (31), and transports and performs processing on a wafer to be processed. Said vacuum transport chambers (41) (42): are placed behind an atmosphere transport chamber (21); transport the wafer to be processed therein; and have connected to the perimeter thereof, vacuum processing chambers (61) (62) (63) that use a plasma to process the wafer to be processed. Said lock chamber (31) is placed between an intermediate chamber (32) and the rear surface of the atmosphere transport chamber (21). While being transported between said vacuum transport chambers (41) (42), the wafer to be processed is placed in and stored by said intermediate chamber (32). To one of the multiple vacuum processing chambers (61) (62) (63), by way of the lock chamber (31), said vacuum processing device (100) transports said wafer to be processed, which is stored in a cassette placed on a cassette stand, and processes said wafer to be processed. In the vacuum processing device (100), a dummy wafer storage section is placed within the intermediate chamber (32). Said dummy wafer storage section is placed within a processing chamber (61) (62) (63) when the plasma is formed in the processing chamber (61) (62) (63) and processing is done by the processing chamber (61) (62) (63) using a dummy wafer and a different condition from the first-mentioned processing.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a substrate to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer in a processing chamber disposed inside a vacuum container, the apparatus including a transfer container connected to the vacuum container to transport the substrate to be processed inside. Background technique [0002] In the above-mentioned apparatus, in particular, a vacuum chamber for processing substrate-like samples (hereinafter referred to as "wafers"), which is a sample to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, is placed in a vacuum vessel and depressurized in a processing chamber. In a processing apparatus, as the number of wafers processed in a processing chamber increases, particles of products formed during processing in the processing chamber adhere to and accumulate on the walls of the processing chamber or the surfaces of components disposed in the processing chamber. If the amount of such deposits...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0016] In addition, in the case of providing another storage space, for purposes other than processing the wafer to be processed, specialized mechanisms, space, etc. are required for the use of dummy wafers, which causes an increase in equipment cost.

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