Vacuum processing apparatus

• US 6,460,270 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2001
• Issued: 10/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Itou, Atsushi, Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Kato, Shigekazu, Nishihata, Kouji
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazarus, Ira S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): O MALLEY, KATHRYN S
• Application Number:
  US09/780,394
• Publication Number:
  US 20010020339A1
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• Field of Search: 34/60, 34/92, 342/18, 342/28, 342/29, 342/32, 414/217, 414/222.3, 414/786, 414/937, 414/939, 414/940, 134/902, 438/906, 438/907
• US Class Current: 34/92
• 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

A vacuum processing apparatus which includes a means for transferring wafer cassettes from a transferring chamber to a lock chamber. The wafer cassettes are mounted within a cassette table in a vertical direction and a first transferring means carries a wafer to and from the cassette tables. The vacuum processing apparatus further includes lock chambers into which the wafers are carried my the first transferring means. A second transferring means carries the wafers to either of the lock chambers.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:

a single first transferring means for carrying a sample to a cassette, and for carrying out the sample from the cassette,

two lock chambers, into which said sample is carried, and from which said sample is carried out, by said single first transferring means, the two lock chambers being adapted to be changed-over to different atmospheres; and

a transferring chamber connected between said two lock chambers and processing chambers, and having a second transferring means for carrying in said sample to one lock chamber and for carrying out said sample from the other lock chamber.

2. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the two lock chambers has a structure such that the lock chamber is changed-over to a different atmosphere each time a sample is carried in and carried out of the lock chamber.

3. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said sample is transferred by the first and the second transferring means one by one;

said sample is processed in at least one of vacuum processing chambers one by one; and

said different atmospheres are an atmospheric pressure and a vacuum.