Vacuum processing apparatus and operating method therefor

• US 5,661,913 A
• Filed: 01/30/1996
• Issued: 09/02/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Itou, Atsushi, Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Kato, Shigekazu, Nishihata, Kouji
• Primary Examiner(s): Sollecito, John M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US08/593,870
• Time in Patent Office: 581 Days
• Field of Search: 34/92, 34/406, 34/228, 34/229, 414/225, 414/226, 414/207, 414/292, 134/902
• US Class Current: 34/406
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 3/006 Processes utilising sub-atmospheric pressure; Apparatus therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/36 Print density control
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/365 by compensation for variation in temperature
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/564 Means for minimising impurities in the coating chamber such as dust, moisture, residual gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67028 for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67736 Loading to or unloading from a conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67748 horizontal transfer of a single workpiece
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/137 including means for charging or discharging wafer cassette
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/139 including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/14 Wafer cassette transporting

Abstract

This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple. Furthermore, the dummy substrates used for dry cleaning and the substrates to be processed do not coexist, contamination of the substrates to be processed due to dust and remaining gas can be prevented and the production yield can be high.

Claims

1. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus having a vacuum processing chamber for which a dry cleaning processing is effected after a substrate member to be processed has been processed under a vacuum condition, comprising the steps of:

judging a time for dry cleaning of said vacuum processing chamber in accordance with a contamination degree of said vacuum processing chamber, so as to provide a dry cleaning time judgment, wherein said judging includes counting a number of times for processing said substrate member to be processed in said vacuum processing chamber, and judging the time for dry cleaning of said vacuum processing chamber in accordance with a result of counting the number of times for processing said substrate member; and

carrying out the dry cleaning for said vacuum processing chamber in accordance with said dry cleaning time judgment.

2. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum processing apparatus has a plurality of vacuum processing chambers, and wherein said judging said time for dry cleaning comprises the step of judging a time of dry cleaning of at least one selected vacuum processing chamber of said plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

3. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dry cleaning is carried out after some, but not all, substrate members, in a cassette holding said substrate members, have been processed.

6. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, prior to vacuum processing substrate members, a number of times for processing substrate members to be treated is set, said judging the time for dry cleaning is performed based upon counting the number of times for processing the substrate members, and said dry cleaning is performed in response to a result of said judging.

8. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said dry cleaning is carried out with dummy wafers in said vacuum processing chamber.

4. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus having plural vacuum processing chambers, for which a dry cleaning processing is effected after a substrate member to be processed has been treated under a vacuum condition, comprising the steps of:

judging a time for dry cleaning of said plural vacuum processing chambers in accordance with a contamination degree of said plural vacuum processing chambers, so as to provide a dry cleaning time judgment, wherein said judging includes counting a number of times for processing said substrate member to be processed in a vacuum processing chamber, and judging the time for dry cleaning of said vacuum processing chamber in accordance with a result of counting the number of times for processing said substrate member; and

carrying out dry cleaning of at least one selected vacuum processing chamber, necessary to carry out the dry cleaning within said plural vacuum processing chambers, in accordance with said dry cleaning time judgment.

5. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the dry cleaning is performed with dummy members in a vacuum processing chamber being dry cleaned, and wherein the dummy members are sequentially passed through said plural vacuum processing chambers, with said dry cleaning only being performed in said at least one selected vacuum processing chamber.

7. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, prior to vacuum processing substrate members, a number of times for processing substrate members to be treated is set, said judging the time for dry cleaning is performed based upon counting the number of times for processing the substrate members, and said dry cleaning is performed in response to a result of said judging.

9. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said dry cleaning is carried out with dummy wafers in said vacuum processing chamber.