VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS

• US 20120067522A1
• Filed: 02/07/2011
• Published: 03/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Shimomura, Takahiro, Kudou, Yutaka, Isozaki, Masakazu, Uemura, Takashi
• Application Number:
  US13/022,232
• Publication Number:
  US 20120067522A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 156/345.32
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67109 mainly by convection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber

Abstract

A vacuum processing apparatus having an atmospheric-pressure transport chamber for conveying samples, lock chambers that accommodate the samples conveyed in and have an ambient capable of being switched between an atmospheric ambient and a vacuum ambient, a vacuum transport chamber coupled to the lock chambers, and at least one vacuum chamber for processing the samples. The apparatus further includes cooling portions operable to cool the high-temperature samples processed by the vacuum chamber. Each cooling portion has: a sample stage over which the high-temperature samples are placed and which has a coolant channel; gas-blowing tubes disposed closer to the inlet/exit port and acting to blow gas toward the sample stage; and an exhaust port disposed on the opposite side of the sample stage with regard to the inlet/exit port and acting to discharge the gas blown from the gas-blowing tubes.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising:

a cassette stage on which a cassette having plural samples accommodated therein is placed;

an atmospheric-pressure transport chamber for conveying the samples;

lock chambers that accommodate the samples conveyed in from the atmospheric-pressure transport chamber and have an ambient capable of being switched between an atmospheric ambient and a vacuum ambient;

a vacuum transport chamber coupled to the lock chambers;

at least one vacuum chamber for processing the samples conveyed in via the vacuum transport chamber; and

cooling units disposed in the atmospheric-pressure transport chamber and operable to cool the high-temperature samples processed by the vacuum chamber;

wherein each of the cooling units has a sample stage over which the high-temperature samples are placed and which has a coolant channel, an inlet/exit port through which the samples are conveyed in and out, gas-blowing tubes disposed on a side of the inlet/exit port and acting to blow gas toward the sample stage, and an exhaust port disposed on an opposite side of the sample stage with regard to the inlet/exit port and acting to exhaust the gas blown from the gas-blowing tubes.

2. The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transfer robot for conveying the samples into and out of said cooling units;

wherein said sample stage has a section cut out into the same shape as a holding portion of the transfer robot holding the samples and sample placement sections over which the samples conveyed in by the transfer robot are placed; and

wherein said cooling units cool the high-temperature samples while holding the samples in close proximity to the sample stage.