JPH1150256A - Vacuum processing apparatus and vacuum processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the working ratio of a device by providing either the carry-in part and the take-out part of the object to be treated of a vacuum treating chamber or the carry-in part and the take-out part in one with plural vacuum spare chambers so as to be communicable parallel. SOLUTION: A substrate is taken out from a cassette 82 by a robot 50 and is carried into a load lock chamber 30 under atmospheric pressure, a gate valve 32 is closed, and the load lock chamber 30 is evacuated. A gate valve 34 is opened, the substrate is carried into a transporting chamber 20, the gate valve 34 is closed, and the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by inert gas. The substrate in the transporting chamber 20 is carried into a primary process chamber 12 of a group 10 of a vacuum treating chambers, a gate valve is 14 closed, and the substrate is subjected to prescribed vacuum treatment. In the meanwhile, similar operation is executed in an another load lock chamber 40, and the substrates are alternately carried into the transporting chamber 20. The substrate treated in a final process chamber 112 is taken out to a cassette 182 by a stage reverse to the time of the carry-in.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method, and more particularly to a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method for forming a CVD thin film on a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel by using plasma. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The size of the above-mentioned glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel is 370.times.470 at present, but the size is increasing in the future.

A conventional vacuum processing apparatus for performing such vacuum processing of a glass substrate has, for example, a configuration as shown in FIG.

That is, a glass substrate to be processed is first set on a cassette stand 80. Usually, 20 glass substrates are stored in one cassette 82 and managed. The glass substrate is moved by a robot 250 from a cassette 82 mounted on a cassette stand 80 and mounting the substrate.
After the leak, it is put into the load lock chamber 230 which is opened to the atmosphere. Thereafter, the gate valve 232 is closed, the inside of the load lock chamber 230 is evacuated (evacuated), and after reaching a certain vacuum pressure, the gate valve 234 is opened.
Thereafter, the glass substrate is carried into the first process chamber 12 in the vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) group 10 by a robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 220, and the processing is executed. After the process in the process chamber 12, the process is carried into the next process chamber (not shown) of the process chamber group 10, where the process is performed. Then, the process is sequentially performed in the process chamber group 10, and finally. It is carried into the process chamber 112 of the process chamber group 10 and processed there. Thereafter, the glass substrate is carried out to the empty cassette 182 by a process reverse to the above-described case of carrying in.

[0005]

In this conventional vacuum processing apparatus 200, the glass substrate is carried into the process chamber group 10 by repeating the leak and the evac of the load lock chamber 230 as shown in FIG. The glass substrate is carried out of the process chamber group 10 by repeating the leak and the evac of the load lock chamber 330, and the time of the leak and the evac causes a decrease in the operation rate of the vacuum processing apparatus 200.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum processing apparatus and method capable of effectively utilizing a waiting time for a leak and an evac operation of a load lock chamber and improving an operation rate.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum processing chamber having a loading section and a discharging section for an object to be processed, and at least two vacuum preparatory chambers, wherein the loading of the vacuum processing chamber is performed. Part and the carrying-out part, or, when the carrying-in part and the carrying-out part are shared, the carrying-in part and the carrying-out part that are also used as the combined part,
A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: the at least two pre-vacuum chambers provided so as to be able to communicate in parallel.

[0008] If at least two pre-vacuum chambers are provided in the vacuum processing chamber so as to be able to communicate in parallel, the at least two pre-vacuum chambers can be used alternately or sequentially, and the operation rate of the apparatus can be reduced. And increase the throughput and cost performance.

When the carrying-in section and the carrying-out section of the vacuum processing chamber are different from each other, it is preferable to provide at least two vacuum spare chambers in both the carrying-in section and the carrying-out section so that they can communicate in parallel.

Further, when the vacuum processing apparatus includes a vacuum processing chamber group including a plurality of vacuum processing chambers, at least one of the first vacuum processing chamber and the last vacuum processing chamber in the vacuum processing chamber group includes at least one of the vacuum processing chambers. Preferably, two vacuum preparatory chambers are provided so as to be able to communicate in parallel, and at least two vacuum preparatory chambers are provided so as to be able to communicate in parallel in the first vacuum processing chamber of the vacuum processing chamber group and the last vacuum processing in the vacuum processing chamber group. More preferably, the chamber is also provided with at least two pre-vacuum chambers so that they can communicate in parallel.

A load lock chamber is preferably used as the pre-vacuum chamber.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum processing chamber having a portion for carrying an object to be processed, and a first and second vacuum preparatory chambers connected in parallel to the loading portion of the vacuum processing chamber. A vacuum processing method of performing vacuum processing of the processing object using a vacuum processing apparatus having: (1) loading the first processing object into the first vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure; Thereafter, the first vacuum preliminary chamber into which the first workpiece has been loaded is evacuated, and then the first vacuum workpiece is transferred from the evacuated first vacuum preliminary chamber to the vacuum processing chamber. A first transfer procedure for bringing the first vacuum preliminary chamber to atmospheric pressure, and (2) carrying a second workpiece to the second vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure, The second vacuum preliminary chamber into which the second workpiece is loaded is evacuated, and The second vacuum preparatory chamber is maintained at a predetermined vacuum level until the object loaded from the first vacuum preparatory chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum process and the second workpiece can be loaded into the vacuum processing chamber. If the second processing object has been reached, the second processing object is made to stand by in the second vacuum preparatory chamber until the second processing object can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber. After the second processing object can be carried into the second vacuum processing chamber, the second processing object is loaded into the vacuum processing chamber from the second vacuum preparatory chamber, and the first vacuum protection chamber is loaded in the vacuum processing chamber. The second vacuum preparatory chamber reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum before the object to be processed carried in from the chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum processing and the second object to be processed can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber. If not, the second pre-vacuum chamber reaches the predetermined degree of vacuum before the second The second object to be processed is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the vacuum pre-chamber, and the second object is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the second vacuum pre-chamber. (2) a second transfer procedure in which the preliminary chamber is brought to atmospheric pressure, and (3) a third workpiece is loaded into the first vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure, and then the third workpiece is loaded. The first vacuum preliminary chamber is evacuated to a vacuum, and the workpiece carried in from the second vacuum preliminary chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum process in the vacuum processing chamber, and the third vacuum chamber is placed in the vacuum processing chamber. If the first vacuum preliminary chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum before the processing object can be carried in, the third vacuum processing chamber has reached the third vacuum processing chamber until the third processing object can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber. Can be placed in the first vacuum preliminary chamber, and the third workpiece can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber. After that, the third object to be processed is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the first vacuum preparatory chamber, and the object to be processed carried from the second vacuum preparatory chamber is moved to a predetermined position in the vacuum processing chamber. If the first vacuum preliminary chamber has not reached a predetermined degree of vacuum before the vacuum processing is performed and the third workpiece can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber, the first vacuum preliminary After the chamber reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the third object to be processed is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the first vacuum preliminary chamber, and the third object is transferred from the first vacuum preliminary chamber to the vacuum processing chamber. And a third transfer procedure for bringing the first vacuum preliminary chamber to the atmospheric pressure after loading the work to be processed, and repeating the second transfer procedure and the third transfer procedure a predetermined number of times. A vacuum processing method is provided.

According to such a method, the object to be processed can be carried in by alternately using the first vacuum spare chamber and the second vacuum spare chamber, and the throughput and cost performance can be improved. it can.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum processing chamber having an unloading portion for an object to be processed and a first and second vacuum preparatory chambers provided in parallel with the unloading portion of the vacuum processing chamber. A vacuum processing method for performing vacuum processing of the object using a vacuum processing apparatus having: (1) a first processing object vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus; The first vacuum preparatory chamber, from which the first object to be processed is carried out, is brought to atmospheric pressure, and then the first vacuum preparatory chamber is kept at atmospheric pressure from the first vacuum preparatory chamber. A first transfer procedure for unloading the processing object and then evacuating the first vacuum preliminary chamber; and (2) after the processing object is unloaded from the vacuum processing chamber to the first vacuum preliminary chamber, When the second vacuum preliminary chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the vacuum processing The second object to be vacuum-processed by the apparatus is carried out to the second pre-vacuum chamber, and if the second pre-vacuum chamber does not reach a predetermined degree of vacuum, the second pre-vacuum is used. After the chamber reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the second object to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus is carried out to the second vacuum preliminary chamber, and the second object to be processed is subjected to the second vacuum. After unloading to the preparatory chamber, the second vacuum preparatory chamber is brought to atmospheric pressure, and then the second workpiece is carried out from the second vacuum preparatory chamber under atmospheric pressure.
A second transfer procedure for evacuating the vacuum preparatory chamber of (3), and (3)
After the object is carried out from the vacuum processing chamber to the second vacuum preparatory chamber, if the first vacuum preparatory chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the first vacuum preparatory chamber is vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus. The third object to be processed is carried out to the first vacuum preliminary chamber, and when the first vacuum preliminary chamber has not reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the first vacuum preliminary chamber is moved to a predetermined vacuum. The third object to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus is carried out to the first pre-vacuum chamber after the vacuum processing apparatus has reached the predetermined temperature, and the third object is carried out to the first vacuum pre-chamber. Setting the first pre-vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure, then carrying out the third workpiece from the first pre-vacuum chamber under atmospheric pressure, and then evacuating the first pre-vacuum chamber. And the third transport procedure is repeated a predetermined number of times. The vacuum processing method characterized in that return is provided.

According to such a method, the object to be processed can be carried out by alternately using the first vacuum preliminary chamber and the second vacuum preliminary chamber, and the throughput and cost performance can be improved. it can.

It is to be noted that, in the method of the second and third aspects,
When the first and second vacuum preliminary chambers are set to atmospheric pressure, an inert gas is preferably used.

[0017]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for describing a method for loading a glass substrate in the vacuum processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The vacuum processing apparatus 100 of the present invention comprises a process chamber group 10, transfer chambers 20, 120, load lock chambers 30, 40, 130, 140, robots 50, 1
50 and a cassette stand 80.

The process chamber group 10 includes a first process chamber 12, a last process chamber 112, and at least one process chamber (not shown) therebetween, and extends from the first process chamber 12 to the last process chamber 112. Until then, vacuum processing such as plasma CVD of the glass substrate is continuously performed.

A transfer chamber 20 is connected to the first process chamber 12 through a gate valve 14, and a transfer robot (not shown) is provided in the transfer chamber 20. A load lock chamber 30 and a load lock chamber 40 are connected to the transfer chamber 20 in parallel. A robot 50 is provided so as to access both the load lock chamber 30 and the load lock chamber 40. A gate valve 32 is provided on the robot 50 side and the transfer chamber side of the load lock chamber 30,
Gate valves 42, 4 are provided on the robot 50 side and the transfer chamber 20 side of the load lock chamber 40, respectively.
4 are provided.

A transfer chamber 120 is connected to the last process chamber 112 via a gate valve 114.
A transfer robot (not shown) is provided in the transfer chamber 120. The transfer chamber 120 includes a load lock chamber 130.
And the load lock chamber 140 are connected in parallel.
The robot 150 is provided so that both the load lock chamber 130 and the load lock chamber 140 can be accessed.
Gate valves 132 and 134 are provided on the robot 150 side and the transfer chamber 120 side of the load lock chamber 130, and gate valves 142 and 144 are provided on the robot 150 side and the transfer chamber 120 side of the load lock chamber 140, respectively. I have.

As described above, in the present embodiment, both the carry-in side and the carry-out side of the process chamber group 10
Added one load lock room. Then, a method in which the two load lock chambers are operated alternately is adopted.

More specifically, the procedure is performed as follows.

(I) First, a case where a glass substrate is carried into the process chamber group 10 will be described.

(I-1) A cassette 82 containing 20 glass substrates is set on a cassette stand 80. Next, the first glass substrate is taken out of the cassette 82 by the robot 50 from the cassette 82 mounted on the cassette stand 80 and mounting the glass substrate, and is carried into the load lock chamber 30 under atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the gate valve 32 is closed, and the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is evacuated to a set pressure. Thereafter, the gate valve 34 is opened, and the glass substrate is carried out of the load lock chamber 30 by the transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20. Thereafter, the gate valve 34 is closed, and then the load lock chamber 3 is closed.
The inside of the chamber is returned to the atmospheric pressure with an inert gas. On the other hand, the transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20 transfers the glass substrate unloaded from the load lock chamber 30 to the first process chamber 12 in the vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) group 10.
Then, the gate valve 14 is closed. A predetermined vacuum process such as plasma CVD is performed on the glass substrate carried into the process chamber 12 in the process chamber 12. After the process in the process chamber 12 is completed, the glass substrate is carried into a process chamber (not shown) next to the process chamber group 10, where the process is performed.

(I-2) On the other hand, while the load lock chamber 30 is evacuated as described above and the glass substrate is subsequently carried into the process chamber 12 from the load lock chamber 30, the load lock chamber 40 is not at atmospheric pressure. In this case, the load lock chamber 40 is set to the atmospheric pressure, and the second glass substrate is taken out of the cassette 82 by the robot 50 and carried into the load lock chamber 40 under the atmospheric pressure. Then, gate valve 4
2 is closed, and the inside of the load lock chamber 40 is evacuated to a set pressure. Thereafter, the gate valve 44 is opened, and the glass substrate is carried out of the load lock chamber 40 by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20. Thereafter, the gate valve 44 is closed, and then the inside of the load lock chamber 40 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by the inert gas. On the other hand, the load lock chamber 40
The glass substrate carried out of the transfer chamber 20 is carried into the first process chamber 12 in the vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) group 10 by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20, and then the gate valve 14 is closed. A predetermined vacuum process such as plasma CVD is performed on the glass substrate carried into the process chamber 12 in the process chamber 12. After the process in the process chamber 12 is completed, the glass substrate is carried into a process chamber (not shown) next to the process chamber group 10, where the process is performed.

(I-3) On the other hand, while the load lock chamber 40 is evacuated as described above and the glass substrate is subsequently carried into the process chamber 12 from the load lock chamber 40, the load lock chamber 30 is enlarged. The pressure is adjusted to the atmospheric pressure, and the third glass substrate is taken out of the cassette 82 by the robot 50 and carried into the load lock chamber 30 under the atmospheric pressure. afterwards,
The gate valve 32 is closed, and the inside of the load lock chamber 30 is evacuated to a set pressure. After that, gate valve 3
Then, the glass substrate is carried out of the load lock chamber 30 by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20. Thereafter, the gate valve 34 is closed, and then the interior of the load lock chamber 30 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by the inert gas. on the other hand,
The glass substrate carried out of the load lock chamber 30 is carried into the first process chamber 12 in the vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) group 10 by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20, and then the gate valve is provided. Close 14. A plasma CV is applied to the glass substrate carried into the process chamber 12 in the process chamber 12.
A predetermined vacuum process such as D is performed. After the processing in the process chamber 12, the glass substrate is carried into the next process chamber (not shown) of the process chamber group 10,
Then, processing is performed.

(I-4) Hereinafter, (I-2) and (I-
Step 3) is repeated a predetermined number of times.

FIG. 2 shows a part of the procedures (I-1) to (I-3).

When the procedure (I-2) is performed, preferably, the glass substrate carried in from the load lock chamber 30 is processed and carried out of the process chamber 12, and the next glass substrate is placed in the process chamber 12. If the load lock chamber 40 has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum before the glass substrate can be carried in, the glass substrate is loaded into the load lock chamber 40 until the next glass substrate can be carried into the process chamber 12. After the next glass substrate can be carried into the process chamber 12, the gate valve 44 and the gate valve 14 are opened, and the glass substrate is load-locked by the transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20. Room 4
0 to the process chamber 12, and thereafter, the gate valves 44 and 14 are closed, the glass substrate carried in from the load lock chamber 30 is processed and carried out of the process chamber 12, and the next glass substrate is placed in the process chamber 12. If the load lock chamber 40 has not reached the predetermined degree of vacuum before the load lock chamber 40 can be carried in, the gate valve 44 and the gate valve 14 are opened after the load lock chamber 40 reaches the predetermined degree of vacuum. The glass substrate is transferred to the load lock chamber 40 by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 20.
To the process chamber 12, and then the gate valves 44 and 14 are closed.

In the above description, the load lock chamber 4
Although the case of the procedure (I-2) for transferring the glass substrate from 0 to the process chamber 12 has been described, the case of the procedure (I-3) for transferring the glass substrate from the load lock chamber 30 to the process chamber 12 has been described. The same applies to.

(II) After the process in the process chamber 12 is completed, the glass substrate is carried into the next process chamber (not shown) of the process chamber group 10, where the process is performed. Are performed one after another in a process chamber (not shown), and finally loaded into the process chambers 112 of the process chamber group 10 and processed there.

(III) The glass substrate processed in the process chamber 112 is transferred to the cassette 182 as follows.

(III-1) First, the process chamber 1
After vacuum processing such as plasma CVD is performed at 12, the gate valves 114 and 134 are opened, and the transfer chamber 120 is opened.
The processed first glass substrate is transferred to a load lock chamber 130 under vacuum by a transfer robot (not shown) in the inside.
Conveyed inside. After that, the gate valves 114 and 134 are closed, and the load lock chamber 130 into which the first glass substrate is unloaded is brought to the atmospheric pressure by an inert gas, and then the gate valve 132 is opened to move the load lock chamber 130 under the atmospheric pressure from the load lock chamber 130 to the robot. The glass substrate is carried out by 150. Thereafter, the gate valve 132 is closed and the load lock chamber 130 is closed.
Is evacuated. The glass substrate carried out of the load lock chamber 130 is transferred to the cassette 18 by the robot 150.
2 is transferred.

(III-2) On the other hand, the gate valves 114 and 144 are opened while the glass substrate is transferred from the load lock chamber 130 to the cassette 182 after the load lock chamber 130 is brought to the atmospheric pressure. Transfer chamber 12
0, the processed second glass substrate is transferred to the load lock chamber 14 under vacuum by a transfer robot (not shown).
Conveyed within 0. Thereafter, the gate valves 114, 144
Is closed, the load lock chamber 140 from which the second glass substrate has been carried out is brought to atmospheric pressure by an inert gas, and then the gate valve 142 is opened to open the load lock chamber 140 at atmospheric pressure.
Then, the glass substrate is carried out by the robot 150. Thereafter, the gate valve 142 is closed, and the load lock chamber 140 is closed.
Is evacuated. The glass substrate carried out of the load lock chamber 140 is transferred to the cassette 18 by the robot 150.
2 is transferred.

(III-3) On the other hand, while the load lock chamber 140 is brought to the atmospheric pressure as described above, while the glass substrate is transferred from the load lock chamber 140 to the cassette 182, the gate valves 114 and 134 are operated. Then, the third glass substrate after the processing is transferred into the load lock chamber 130 under vacuum by a transfer robot (not shown) in the transfer chamber 120. Then, the gate valve 114,
134 is closed, the load lock chamber 130 into which the third glass substrate has been carried out is brought to atmospheric pressure by an inert gas, and then the gate valve 132 is opened and the glass substrate is carried out from the load lock chamber 130 under atmospheric pressure by the robot 150. I do. Thereafter, the gate valve 132 is closed, and the load lock chamber 130 is evacuated. The load lock chamber 130
The glass substrate carried out of the robot is transferred to the cassette 182 by the robot 150.

(III-4) Hereinafter, the above (III-
2) and (III-3) are repeated a predetermined number of times.

When performing the above-mentioned procedure (III-2), preferably, after the glass substrate is carried out from the process chamber 112 to the load lock chamber 130, the load lock chamber 140 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum. If the vacuum lock is performed, the next glass substrate vacuum-processed by the process chamber 112 is carried out to the load lock chamber 140, and if the load lock chamber 140 has not reached the predetermined degree of vacuum, the load lock chamber 140 is reset to the predetermined level. After reaching the degree of vacuum, the next glass substrate vacuum-processed by the process chamber 112 is carried out to the load lock chamber 140. The same applies to the case of the procedure (III-3) for transferring the glass substrate from the process chamber 112 to the load lock chamber 130.

As described above, in the present embodiment,
First process chamber 12 of process chamber group 10
The load lock chambers 30 and 40 are provided so as to be able to communicate with each other via the transfer chamber 20 in parallel with the load lock chambers 130 and 40 in parallel with the last process chamber 112 of the process chamber group 10.
Since the glass substrate 140 is provided so as to be communicable via the transfer chamber 120, the load lock chambers 30 and 40 can be used alternately when loading the glass substrate into the process chamber group 10.
The operation rate of the apparatus can be increased, the throughput and cost performance can be increased.
When unloading the glass substrate from the load lock chamber 1
30, 140 can be used alternately, increasing the operation rate of the device,
Throughput and cost performance can be improved.

The following Table 1 shows a comparison of the throughput and the cost performance between the vacuum processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment and the conventional vacuum processing apparatus 200.

[0042]

[Table 1] Conventional Embodiment Throughput A KA Vacuum processing unit body price B B 'Operating rate α α Cost performance αA / B KαA / B' Cost performance ratio 1 K · (B / B ')

That is, in the present embodiment, since one load lock chamber is added on each of the loading side and the unloading side, the price of the vacuum processing apparatus body becomes B 'accordingly, and the price B of the conventional vacuum processing apparatus body becomes B'. However, since the throughput is K times larger than the conventional one (K> 1),
An increase in the price of the vacuum processing apparatus main body is sufficiently canceled out, and as a result, a significantly higher cost performance can be obtained as compared with the related art.

[0044]

According to the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, at least two pre-vacuum chambers are provided in the vacuum processing chamber so that they can communicate in parallel, so that the at least two pre-vacuum chambers are used alternately or sequentially. It is possible to increase the operation rate of the apparatus and increase the throughput and cost performance.

According to the vacuum processing method of the present invention, the object to be processed can be loaded / unloaded by alternately using the first vacuum preliminary chamber and the second vacuum preliminary chamber. To increase throughput and cost performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining a glass substrate loading method in the vacuum processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a method for loading a glass substrate in a conventional vacuum processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

80: cassette stand 82, 182: cassette 20, 120, 220, 320 transfer chamber 30, 40, 130, 140, 230, 330, load lock chamber 14, 32, 34, 42, 44, 114, 132, 13
4, 142, 144 ... gate valve 50, 150, 250, 350 ... robot 12, 112 ... vacuum processing chamber (process chamber) 10 ... vacuum processing chamber group (process chamber group)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum processing chamber having a loading section and a discharging section for an object to be processed, and at least two vacuum preparatory chambers, one of the loading section and the discharging section of the vacuum processing chamber. In the case where the carry-in part and the carry-out part are also used, the at least two vacuum preparatory chambers provided so as to be able to communicate in parallel with the carry-in part and the carry-out part which are also used, A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: 2. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: a vacuum processing chamber having a portion into which an object to be processed is loaded; and first and second pre-vacuum chambers provided in parallel with the loading portion of the vacuum processing chamber. A vacuum processing method for performing vacuum processing of the object to be processed, wherein (1) loading the first object to be processed into the first vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure, and thereafter performing the first processing. The first vacuum preliminary chamber into which the object is loaded is evacuated, and then the first workpiece is loaded into the vacuum processing chamber from the evacuated first vacuum preliminary chamber. And (2) loading a second workpiece into the second vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure,
Thereafter, the second vacuum preliminary chamber into which the second workpiece is loaded is evacuated, and the workpiece loaded from the first vacuum preliminary chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum processing in the vacuum processing chamber. If the second vacuum preparatory chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum before the second workpiece can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber, the second workpiece is placed in the vacuum processing chamber. The second processing object is made to stand by in the second pre-vacuum chamber until the processing object can be carried in, and after the second processing object can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber, the second processing object The second processing object is carried into the vacuum processing chamber from the vacuum preparatory chamber, and the processing object carried from the first vacuum preparatory chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum processing in the vacuum processing chamber to perform the vacuum processing. The second vacuum preparatory chamber until the second workpiece can be carried into the chamber; Wherein from said second lock chamber after the second lock chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum in the vacuum processing chamber when it has not reached a predetermined degree of vacuum second
A second transfer procedure for bringing the second object to be processed into the vacuum processing chamber from the second vacuum auxiliary chamber, and then bringing the second vacuum auxiliary chamber to atmospheric pressure; (3) loading a third object to be processed into the first pre-vacuum chamber under atmospheric pressure, and then evacuating the first pre-vacuum chamber into which the third object is carried; The first object is processed until the object loaded from the second vacuum preparatory chamber in the vacuum processing chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum processing and the third object can be loaded into the vacuum processing chamber. When the vacuum preparatory chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the third processing object is moved into the first vacuum preparatory chamber until the third processing object can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber. After the third object to be processed can be carried into the vacuum processing chamber, The third processing object is carried into the vacuum processing chamber, and the processing object carried from the second vacuum preparatory chamber is subjected to a predetermined vacuum processing in the vacuum processing chamber, and the third processing object is introduced into the vacuum processing chamber. If the first vacuum preliminary chamber has not reached the predetermined degree of vacuum by the time the workpiece can be carried in, the first vacuum preliminary chamber has reached the predetermined degree of vacuum. From the pre-vacuum chamber to the vacuum processing chamber
And a third transfer procedure for bringing the first vacuum preliminary chamber to atmospheric pressure after loading the third workpiece from the first vacuum preliminary chamber into the vacuum processing chamber. Wherein the second transporting procedure and the third transporting procedure are repeated a predetermined number of times. 3. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: a vacuum processing chamber having an unloading portion for an object to be processed; and first and second pre-vacuum chambers provided in parallel with the unloading portion of the vacuum processing chamber. A vacuum processing method for performing vacuum processing of the object to be processed using: (1) unloading a first object to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus to the first vacuum preliminary chamber under vacuum; Setting the first vacuum preliminary chamber into which the first workpiece has been transported out to atmospheric pressure, and then transporting the first workpiece from the first vacuum preliminary chamber under atmospheric pressure; A first transfer procedure for evacuating the first vacuum preparatory chamber, and (2) the second vacuum preparatory chamber after an object is carried out from the vacuum processing chamber to the first vacuum preparatory chamber. When the vacuum degree reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the vacuum processing apparatus performs vacuum processing. The second object to be processed is carried out to the second pre-vacuum chamber, and when the second pre-vacuum chamber has not reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the second pre-vacuum chamber is set at a predetermined vacuum. The second object to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus is carried out to the second pre-vacuum chamber after the temperature reaches the second vacuum pre-chamber, and the second to-be-processed object is carried out to the second pre-vacuum chamber. ,
Setting the second pre-vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure, then carrying out the second workpiece from the second pre-vacuum chamber under atmospheric pressure, and then evacuating the second pre-vacuum chamber. And (3) when the first vacuum preliminary chamber has reached a predetermined degree of vacuum after the workpiece is carried out from the vacuum processing chamber to the second vacuum preliminary chamber. The third workpiece to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus is carried out to the first vacuum preliminary chamber, and if the first vacuum preliminary chamber has not reached a predetermined degree of vacuum, the first vacuum preliminary chamber is subjected to the first vacuum preliminary chamber. After the vacuum preparatory chamber reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, a third object to be vacuum-processed by the vacuum processing apparatus is carried out to the first vacuum preparatory chamber, and the third object to be processed is transferred to the first vacuum preparatory chamber. After unloading to the 1st vacuum spare room,
Setting the first pre-vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure, then carrying out the third object from the first pre-vacuum chamber under atmospheric pressure, and then evacuating the first pre-vacuum chamber. A vacuum processing method comprising repeating the second transport procedure and the third transport procedure a predetermined number of times.