Vacuum processing apparatus

Abstract

A vacuum processing apparatus which includes a means for transferring substrates from a loader with a transferring device to a double lock chamber and then to a selected vacuum processing chamber. The substrates are then returned to a substrate by the vacuum loader and back into the substrate table. The surfaces of the substrates are maintained in a horizontal position during processing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus and operating method therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the inside of which must be cleaned, and its operating method.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In a vacuum processing apparatus such as a dry etching apparatus, a CVD apparatus or a sputtering apparatus, a predetermined number of substrates to be treated are stored as one unit (which is generally referred to as a “lot”) in a substrate cassette and are loaded in the apparatus. The substrates after being processed are likewise stored in the same unit in the substrate cassette and are recovered. This is an ordinary method of operating these apparatuses to improve the productivity.

In such a vacuum processing apparatus described above, particularly in an apparatus which utilizes a reaction by an active gas, as typified by a dry etching apparatus and a CVD apparatus, reaction products adhere to and are deposited on a vacuum processing chamber with the progress of processing. For this reason, problems such as, degradation of vacuum performance, the increase of dust, the drop of the levels of optical monitoring signals occur. To solve these problems, conventionally the insides of the vacuum processing chambers are cleaned periodically. Cleaning operations include so-called “wet cleaning” which is wiping-off of the adhering matters by use of an organic solvent, etc., and so-called “dry cleaning” in which an active gas or plasma is used for decomposing adhering matters. Dry cleaning is superior from the aspect of the working factor and efficiency. These features of the dry cleaning have become essential with the progress in automation of production lines.

An example of vacuum processing apparatuses having such a dry cleaning function is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. 127125/1988. This apparatus includes a preliminary vacuum chamber for introducing wafers to be treated into a processing chamber from an atmospheric side to a vacuum side, which is disposed adjacent to the processing chamber through a gate valve, dummy wafers are loaded in the preliminary vacuum chamber and are transferred into the processing chamber by exclusive conveyor means before the processing chamber is subjected to dry cleaning, and the dummy wafer is returned to the vacuum preparatory chamber by the conveyor means after dry cleaning is completed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the prior art technology described above, the structure of the vacuum processing apparatus is not much considered. The preliminary vacuum chamber for storing the dummy wafers must have a large capacity, the exclusive conveyor means is necessary for transferring the dummy wafers and thus, the apparatus is complicated in structure.

Dummy wafers used for plasma cleaning are again returned to the preliminary vacuum chamber and are made to stand by. In this instance, reaction products generated during plasma cleaning and residual gas used for plasma cleaning adhere on the used dummy wafers. Thereafter, normal processing for wafers is resumed. Therefore, the used dummy wafers and unprocessed wafers exist in mixture inside the preliminary vacuum chamber and this state is not desirable from the aspect of contamination of unprocessed wafers.

The present invention provides a vacuum processing apparatus which solves the problems described above, is simple in structure, prevents contamination of unprocessed substrates and accomplishes a high production yield. A vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which are dry-cleaned after substrates to be treated are processed in vacuum is provided with first storage means for storing substrates to be treated, second storage means for storing dummy substrates, the first and second storage means being disposed in the air, conveyor means for transferring the substrates to be processed between the first storage means and the vacuum processing chambers and for transferring the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers, and control means for controlling the conveyor means so as to transfer the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers before and after dry cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers. A method of operating a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which are dry-cleaned after substrates to be processed are processed in vacuum comprises the steps of disposing first storage means for storing the substrates to be processed together with second storage means for storing dummy substrates in the air atmosphere, transferring the substrates to be processed between the first storage means and the vacuum processing chambers and vacuum-processing the substrates to be processed, and transferring the dummy substrates between the second storage means and the vacuum processing chambers before and after dry-cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a dry etching apparatus as an embodiment of a vacuum processing apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 1 — 1 of FIG. 1 .

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As substrates to be processed are processed in a vacuum processing apparatus, reaction products adhere to and are deposited in vacuum processing chambers. The reaction products adhering to and deposited in the vacuum processing chambers are removed by disposing dummy wafers inside the vacuum processing chambers and by conducting dry-cleaning. To carry out dry cleaning, the timings of dry cleaning of the vacuum processing chambers are determined and during or after the processing of a predetermined number of substrates to be processed, dummy substrates are conveyed by substrate conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means disposed in the air atmosphere together with processed substrate storage means, and are then disposed inside the vacuum processing chambers. After the dummy substrates are thus disposed, a plasma is generated inside each of the vacuum processing chambers to execute dry-cleaning inside the vacuum processing chamber. After dry-cleaning inside the vacuum processing chambers is completed, the dummy substrates are returned from the vacuum processing chambers to the dummy substrate storage means by the substrate conveyor means. In this manner, a preliminary vacuum chamber and an exclusive transfer mechanism both necessary in prior art techniques become unnecessary, and the apparatus structure gets simplified. The dummy substrates used for the dry-cleaning and the substrates to be processed do not co-exist inside the same chamber, so that contamination of substrates to be processed due to dust and remaining gas is prevented and a high production yield can be achieved.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention which is, in this case, a dry-etching apparatus for etching wafers, i.e., substrates to be processed by plasma.

Cassette tables 2 a to 2 c are disposed in an L-shape in this case in positions such that they can be loaded into and unloaded from the apparatus without changing their positions and postures. In other words, the cassettes 1 a to 1 c are fixed always in predetermined positions on a substantially horizontal plane, while the cassette tables 2 a and 2 b are disposed adjacent to and in parallel with each other on one of the sides of the L-shape. The cassette table 2 c is disposed on the other side of the L-shape. The cassettes 1 a and 1 b are for storing unprocessed wafers and for recovering the processed wafers. They can store a plurality (usually 25) of wafers 20 as the substrates to be treated. The cassette 1 c in this case is for storing the dummy wafers for effecting dry-cleaning using plasma (hereinafter referred to as “plasma-cleaning”) and recovering the dummy wafers after plasma-cleaning. It can store a plurality of (usually twenty-five pieces) dummy wafers 30 .

A load lock chamber 5 and unload lock chamber 6 are so disposed as to face the cassette tables 2 a and 2 b , and a conveyor 13 is disposed between the cassette tables 2 a , 2 b and the load lock chamber 5 and the unload lock chamber 6 . The load lock chamber 5 is equipped with an evacuating device 3 and a gas introduction device 4 , and can load unprocessed wafers in the vacuum apparatus through a gate valve 12 a . The unload lock chamber 6 is similarly equipped with the evacuating device 3 and the gas introduction device 4 , and can take out processed wafers to the atmosphere through a gate valve 12 d . The conveyor 13 is equipped with a robot having X, Y, Z and + axes, which operates so as to deliver and receive the wafers 20 between the cassettes 1 a , 1 b and the load lock and unload lock chambers 5 and 6 and the dummy wafers 30 between the cassette 1 c and the load lock and unload lock chambers 5 and 6 .

The load lock chamber 5 and the unload lock chamber 6 are connected to a transfer chamber 16 through the gate valves 12 b and 12 c . The transfer chamber 16 is rectangular, in this case, and etching chambers 11 a , 11 b and 11 c are disposed on the three side walls of the transfer chamber 16 through gate valves 15 a , 15 b and 15 c , respectively. A conveyor 14 capable of delivering the wafers 20 or the dummy wafers 30 from the load lock chamber 5 to the etching chambers 11 a , 11 b , 11 c and of delivering them from the chambers 11 a , 11 b , 11 c to the unload lock chamber 6 is disposed inside the transfer chamber 16 . The transfer chamber 16 is equipped with an evacuating device 17 capable of independent evacuation.

The etching chambers 11 a , 11 b , 11 c have the same structure and can make the same processing. The explanation will be given on the etching chamber 11 b by way of example. The etching chamber 11 b has a sample table 8 b for placing the wafers 20 thereon, and a discharge chamber is so provided as to define a discharge portion 7 b above the sample table 8 b . The etching chamber 11 b includes a gas introduction device 10 b for introducing a processing gas in the discharge portion 7 b and an evacuating device 9 b for decreasing the internal pressure of the etching chamber 11 b to a predetermined pressure. The etching chamber 11 b further includes generation means for generating a microwave and a magnetic field for converting processing gas in the discharge portion 7 b to plasma.

A sensor 18 for measuring the intensity of plasma light is disposed at an upper part of the etching chamber. The measured value of the sensor 13 is inputted to a controller 19 . The controller 19 compares the measured value from the sensor 18 with a predetermined one and determines the timing of cleaning inside the etching chamber. The controller 19 controls the conveyors 13 and 14 to control the transfer of the dummy wafers 30 between the cassette 1 c and the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c.

In a vacuum processing apparatus having the construction described above, the cassettes 1 a , 1 b storing unprocessed wafers are first placed onto the cassette, tables 2 a , 2 b by a line transfer robot which operates on the basis of the data sent from a host control apparatus, or by an operator. On the other hand, the cassette 1 c storing the dummy wafers is placed on the cassette table 2 c . The vacuum processing apparatus executes the wafer processing or plasma cleaning on the basis of recognition by itself of the production data provided on the cassettes 1 a to 1 c , of the data sent from the host control apparatus, or of the command inputted by an operator.

For instance, the wafers 20 are sequentially loaded in the order from above into the etching chambers 11 a , 11 b , 11 c by the conveyors 13 and 14 , and are etched. The etched wafers are stored in their original positions inside the cassette 1 a by the conveyors 14 and 13 . In this case, from the start to the end of the operation, without changing the position and posture of the cassettes, the unprocessed wafers are taken out from the cassettes and are returned in their original positions where the wafers have been stored, and are stored there. In this manner, the apparatus can easily cope with automation of the production line, contamination of the wafers due to dust can be reduced and high production efficiency and high production yield can thus be accomplished.

As etching is repeated, the reaction products adhere to and are deposited on the inner wall of the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c . Therefore, the original state must be recovered by removing the adhering matters by plasma cleaning. The controller 19 judges the timing of this plasma cleaning. In this case, a portion through which the plasma light passes is provided in each of the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c . The sensor 18 measures the intensity of the plasma light passing through this portion and when the measured value reaches a predetermined one, the start timing of plasma cleaning is judged. Alternatively, the timing of plasma cleaning may be judged by counting the number of wafers processed in each etching chamber by the controller 19 and judging the timing when this value reaches a predetermined value. The actual timing of plasma cleaning that is carried out may be during a processing of a predetermined number of wafers in the cassette 1 a or 1 b , after the processing of all the wafers 20 in a cassette is completed and before the processing of wafers in the next cassette.

Plasma cleaning is carried out in the following sequence. In this case, the explanation will be given about a case where the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c are subjected to plasma cleaning by using three dummy wafers 30 among the dummy wafers 30 (twenty-five dummy wafers are stored in this case) stored in the cassette 1 c.

Dummy wafers 30 which are stored in the cassette 1 c and are not used yet or can be used because the number of times of use for plasma cleaning is below a predetermined one are drawn by the conveyor 13 . At this time, dummy wafers 30 stored in any position in the cassette 1 c may be used but in this case, the position numbers of the dummy wafers in the cassette and their number of times of use are stored in the controller 19 , and accordingly dummy wafers having smaller numbers of times of use are drawn preferentially. Then, the dummy wafers 30 are loaded in the load lock chamber 5 disposed on the opposite side to the cassette 1 a by the conveyor 13 through the gate valve 12 a in the same way as the transfer at the time of etching of wafers 20 . After the gate valve 12 a is closed, the load lock chamber 5 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by the vacuum exhaust device 3 and then the gate valves 12 b and 15 a are opened. The dummy wafers 30 are transferred by the conveyor 14 from the load lock chamber 5 to the etching chamber 11 a through the transfer chamber 16 and are placed on the sample table 8 a . After the gate valve 15 a is closed, plasma cleaning is carried out in the etching chamber 11 a in which the dummy wafers 30 are disposed, under a predetermined condition.

In the interim, the gate valves 12 a , 12 b are closed and the pressure of the load lock chamber 5 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by the gas introduction device 4 . Next, the gate valve 12 a is opened and the second dummy wafer 30 is loaded in the load lock chamber 5 by the conveyor 13 in the same way as the first dummy wafer 30 , and evacuation is effected again by the evacuating device 3 to a predetermined pressure after closing the gate valve 12 a . Thereafter, the gate valves 12 b and 15 b are opened and the second dummy wafer 30 is transferred from the load lock chamber 5 to the etching chamber 11 b through the transfer chamber 16 by the conveyor 14 . Plasma cleaning is started after the gate valve 15 b is closed.

In the interim, the third dummy wafer 30 is transferred into the etching chamber 11 c in the same way as the second dummy wafer 30 and plasma cleaning is carried out.

After plasma cleaning is completed in the etching chamber, 11 a in which the first dummy wafer 20 is placed, the gate valves 15 a and 12 c are opened. The used dummy wafer 30 is transferred from the etching chamber 11 a to the unload lock chamber 6 by the conveyor 14 . Then, the gate valve 12 c is closed. After the pressure of the unload lock chamber 6 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by the gas introduction device 4 , the gate valve 12 d is opened. The used dummy wafer 30 transferred to the unload lock chamber 6 is taken out in the air by the conveyor 13 through the gate valve 12 d and is returned to its original position in the cassette 1 c in which it is stored at the start.

When plasma cleaning of the etching chambers 11 b and 11 c is completed, the second and third dummy wafers 20 are returned to their original positions in the cassette 1 c.

In this way, the used dummy wafers 30 are returned to their original positions in the cassette 1 c and the dummy wafers 30 are always stocked in the cassette 1 c . When all the dummy wafers 30 in the cassette 1 c are used for plasma cleaning or when the numbers of times of use of the wafers 30 reach the predetermined ones after the repetition of use, the dummy wafers 30 are replaced as a whole together with the cassette 1 c . The timing of this replacement of the cassette is managed by the controller 19 and the replacement is instructed to the host control apparatus for controlling the line transfer robot or to the operator.

Although the explanation given above deals with the case where the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c are continuously plasma-cleaned by the use of three dummy wafers 30 among the dummy wafers 30 in the cassette 1 c , other processing methods may be employed, as well.

For example, the etching chambers 11 a to 11 c are sequentially plasma-cleaned by the use of one dummy wafer 30 . In the case of such plasma cleaning, unprocessed wafers 20 can be etched in etching chambers other than the one subjected to plasma cleaning, and plasma cleaning can thus be carried out without interrupting etching.

If the processing chambers are different, for example, there are an etching chamber, a post-processing chamber and a film-formation chamber, and wafers are sequentially processed while passing through each of these processing chambers, each of the processing chambers can be subjected appropriately to plasma cleaning by sending dummy wafers 30 during the processing of the wafers 20 which are stored in the cassette 1 a or 2 a and drawn and sent sequentially, by passing merely the dummy wafers 30 through the processing chambers for which plasma cleaning is not necessary, and by executing plasma cleaning only when the dummy wafers 30 reach the processing chambers which need plasma cleaning.

According to the embodiment described above, the cassette storing the dummy wafers and the cassettes storing the wafers to be processed are disposed together in the air, the dummy wafers are loaded from the cassette into the apparatus by the same conveyor as the conveyor for transferring the wafers, at the time of cleaning, and the used dummy wafers are returned to their original positions in the cassette. In this way, a mechanism for conducting exclusively plasma cleaning need not be provided, and the construction of the apparatus can be simplified. It is not necessary to handle plasma cleaning as a particular processing sequence, but the plasma cleaning can be incorporated in an ordinary etching processing and can be carried out efficiently in a series of operations.

The dummy wafers used for plasma cleaning are returned to their original positions in the cassette placed in the air. Accordingly, the used dummy wafers and the wafers before and after processing do not exist mixedly in the vacuum chamber, so that contamination of wafers due to dust and remaining gas does not occur unlike conventional apparatuses.

The used dummy wafers are returned to their original positions in the cassette and the numbers of times of their use is managed. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the confusion of the used dummy wafers with the unused dummy wafers and the confusion of the dummy wafers having small numbers of times of use with the dummy wafers having large numbers of times of use. For these reasons, the dummy wafers can be used effectively without any problem when plasma cleaning is carried out.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, the apparatus can have a plurality of processing chambers and can transfer wafers and dummy wafers by the same conveyor. Since plasma cleaning can be carried out by managing the timing of cleaning of each processing chamber by the controller, the cleaning cycle can be set arbitrarily, dry cleaning can be carried out without interrupting the flow of the processing, the processing can be efficiently made and the productivity can be improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, there are effects that the construction of the apparatus is simple, the substrates to be processed are free from contamination and the production yield is high.

Claims

1. A vacuum processing apparatus, including:a first loader provided with a first conveying structure for conveying substrates; a second loader provided with a convey chamber, a second conveying structure and plural vacuum processing chamber, and lock chambers for connecting said first loader and said second loader, wherein: said first loader includes a cassette mount unit located outside of said lock chamber, said cassette mount unit has a cassette positioning plane, which is a substantially horizontal plane in which all cassettes, containing substrates to be processed are positioned in a row in front of a front wall of said lock chambers, a cassette is placed on and removed from said cassette positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of the substrate to be processed, in said cassette, substantially horizontal, each of said lock chambers is provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal fine in front of said cassette in said cassette positioning plane, and said first and second conveying structures transfer the substrates sequentially one by one from said first loader to said second loader and from said second loader to said first loader through said lock chambers.

2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said plural vacuum processing chambers has a substrate table to maintain the surface of the substrate horizontal during a vacuum processing.

3. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrates are sputtered in one of said vacuum processing chambers.

4. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a loader; a vacuum loader; and a lock chamber for connecting said loader and said vacuum loader, wherein: said loader includes a cassette mount unit located outside of said lock chamber, said cassette mount unit has a cassette positioning plane which is a substantially horizontal plane, a cassette is placed on and removed from said cassette positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of the substrate in said cassette substantially horizontal, said lock chamber is provided with gate valves respectively at both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and said first and second conveying structures transfer the substrates sequentially one by one from said loader to said vacuum loader and from said vacuum loader to said first loader through said lock chamber.

5. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising plural vacuum processing chambers in which the substrates are processed, connected to the vacuum loader, and wherein each of said plural vacuum processing chambers has a substrate table to maintain the surface of the substrate, which is processed during a vacuum processing, horizontal during the vacuum processing.

6. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said substrates are dry etched in one of said vacuum processing chambers.

7. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrates are treated by chemical vapor deposition and sputtering in one of said vacuum processing chambers.

8. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrates are treated, in parallel, by dry etching, chemical vapor deposition and sputtering in said vacuum processing chambers.

9. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein processed substrates are transferred directly from one of said vacuum processing chambers to said double lock chambers by said second transfer conveyor.

10. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a wafer holder for storing wafers; double wafer locking structures for housing wafers in the gas atmosphere during a first time period and in a vacuum during a second time period; evacuating structure for evacuating said wafer locking structures; gas introduction structure for introducing a gas into said wafer locking structures; a first transfer structure for transferring the wafers between said wafer holder and said wafer locking structures; a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for one by one treating the wafers, which are to be processed in a vacuum; and a second transfer structure for transferring said wafers between said wafer locking structures, while said wafers are maintained in a vacuum, and said vacuum processing chambers, the wafers being carried in from said wafer holder into said vacuum processing chambers, wherein the first and second transfer structures transfer the substrates sequentially one by one from said wafer holder to said vacuum processing chambers and from said vacuum processing chambers to said wafer holder through said wafer locking structures.

11. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a cassette holder for storing wafers; wafer locking structures for holding the wafers in a gas atmosphere during a first time period and in a vacuum during a second time period; evacuating structure for evacuating said wafer locking structures; a gas introduction structure for introducing a gas into said wafer locking structures; a first transfer structure for transferring the wafer between said cassette holder and said wafer locking structures; a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for one by one treating said wafers, which are to be processed in a vacuum and; a second transfer structure for transferring the wafers between said wafer locking structures, while said wafers are maintained in a vacuum, and each of said vacuum processing chambers, wherein: a cassette is placed on and removed from a cassette positioning plane of said cassette holder so as to maintain a surface of a wafer to be processed, of the wafers in said cassette, substantially horizontal, the wafer, from the cassette, is carried into a vacuum processing chamber of said plurality of vacuum processing chambers, the wafer, processed in said vacuum processing chamber, is carried out to the cassette, and the wafer is sequentially transferred between the cassette on the cassette holder and said vacuum processing chamber by the two transfer structures in a state that a horizontal line of said wafer is maintained from transfer of the wafer between the first transfer structure and the wafer locking structures, to the vacuum processing chamber.

12. A vacuum processing apparatus having a plurality of vacuum processing chambers adjacent to a common transfer chamber, comprising:a first transfer conveyor for transferring substrates to be processed from it cassette location to one of double lock chambers, wherein the substrates, at said cassette location, are contained in at least one cassette which is placed on a cassette table; and a second transfer conveyor for transferring the substrates to be processed from one of said double lock chambers to said common transfer chamber; and for transferring the substrates to be processed from said common transfer chamber to one of said plural vacuum processing chambers, wherein said first transfer conveyor is provided with a first transfer device which faces to a set of substrates disposed in a cassette and transfers the substrates one by one to the double lock chambers, and said second transfer conveyor is provided with a second transfer device which is disposed in a conveyor chamber of said common transfer chamber, and wherein the substrates are sequentially transferred one by one from said cassette to one of said plural vacuum processing chambers by said two transfer conveyors in a state that said substrates are maintained horizontal.

13. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the substrates are treated one by one, in parallel, in said plural vacuum processing chambers.

14. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the substrates which have been processed are transferred one by one, in series, from the plurality of vacuum processing chambers to the common transfer chamber by said second transfer conveyor.

15. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a cassette, containing substrates, placed at a position in a single row in front of lock chambers, on a cassette table, the substrates being carried into at least one vacuum processing chamber by way of said lock chambers, and the substrates, processed in said at least one vacuum processing chamber, being carried out to said cassette; a transfer conveyor structure for removing said cassette from the cassette table, said transfer conveyor structure maintaining substrate surfaces, subjected to processing in the at least one vacuum processing chamber, substantially horizontal during carrying in and carrying out substrates, the surfaces of the substrates being maintained substantially horizontal during placing and removing the cassette; and a transfer chamber, containing a transfer device, between said lock chambers and the at least one vacuum processing chamber.

16. The vacuum processing apparatus to claim 15, wherein the substrates are semiconductor wafers.

17. A vacuum processing apparatus for treating a substrate, comprising:a set of cassettes, containing substrates, placed on cassette tables; a set of lock chambers for carrying in the substrates into vacuum processing chambers, and for carrying out the substrates, processed in said vacuum processing chambers, to said cassettes; a transfer conveyor structure for removing said cassettes from the cassette tables; a transfer conveyor conveying the substrates from one of said cassettes to one of lock chambers; and a transfer chamber containing another transfer conveyor, disposed between said lock chambers and plural vacuum processing chambers, wherein after processing of all substrates in one of said cassettes, in said vacuum processing chambers, said one of said cassettes is removed and another cassette, containing substrates to be processed, is placed on a cassette table of the cassette tables.

18. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a cassette, containing a sample, placed at a position in a single row in front of lock chambers, on a cassette table,said cassette table having a cassette positioning plane for orienting the sample at said position, the cassette being placed on and removed from said cassette positioning plane so as to maintain a surface of a sample to be processed, in said cassette, substantially horizontal, said sample being carried into a vacuum processing chamber, of plural vacuum processing chambers, by way of a lock chamber of the lock chambers, and the sample, processed in said vacuum processing chambers, being carried out by way of a lock chamber of the lock chambers; a structure for removing said cassette from said cassette table; one conveyor structure disposed between said cassette and said lock chambers; and another conveyor structure between said lock chambers and the plural vacuum processing chambers to sequentially take in and to take out a sample one by one, and to take in and to take out a processed sample, wherein each of said lock chambers is provided with both an inlet and an outlet located in a horizontal line, and wherein each of the lock chambers is provided with gate valves respectively at both the inlet and the outlet located in the horizontal line.

19. A vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said sample is a semiconductor wafer.

20. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a wafer storing structure for containing semiconductor wafers, placed at a position in a single row in front of a front wall of a lock chamber, on a wafer storing structure table; lock chambers for carrying in said semiconductor wafers into vacuum processing chambers, and for carrying out said semiconductor wafers, processed in said vacuum processing chambers, to said wafer storing structure; a first transfer conveyor structure for removing said wafers from said wafer storing structure, wherein a surface of a semiconductor wafer is maintained substantially horizontal during carrying in and carrying out the semiconductor wafer, and during the semiconductor wafer processing, and wherein said surface of the semiconductor wafer is maintained substantially horizontal during placing and removing of the wafer storing structure; and a transfer chamber containing a second transfer conveyor structure, disposed between said lock chambers and the plural vacuum processing chambers.

21. A vacuum processing apparatus to claim 20, wherein each of said plural vacuum processing chambers has a substrate table to maintain the surface of the semiconductor wafer horizontal during vacuum processing.

22. A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:a cassette containing samples, placed at a position in a single row in front of lock chambers, on a cassette table; said lock chambers, for carrying in the samples into vacuum processing chambers, wherein the samples are carried from the cassette to the lock chambers, and for carrying out said samples, processed in said vacuum processing chambers, to said cassette; and a transfer conveyor for removing the cassette from the cassette table, wherein a surface of the sample is maintained substantially horizontal during said carrying in and carrying out the sample, and during sample processing; and said surface of the sample is maintained substantially horizontal during placing and removing the cassette.