Vacuum processing apparatus and tilt adjustment method

1 . A vacuum processing apparatus comprising:

a processing container having a top wall, a bottom wall, a sidewall, and an interior that is kept in a vacuum atmosphere;

a stage provided inside the processing container and configured to hold a substrate placed on the stage so as to face the top wall;

a support member penetrating the bottom wall of the processing container to support the stage from below;

a tilt changer provided at an end portion of the support member located outside the processing container and configured to change a tilt of the stage with respect to the top wall of the processing container;

at least one distance meter configured to measure a distance between the top wall and the stage at a measurement position on a surface of the top wall facing the stage;

a controller configured to control the tilt changer so as to make the top wall and the stage parallel to each other based on the distance between the top wall and the stage as measured by the at least one distance meter; and

a rotator configured to rotate the stage,

wherein the at least one distance meter is provided below the stage and is configured to emit light toward the measurement position and to measure a distance between the at least one distance meter and an object on an optical axis of the light based on the emitted light and received light reflected from the object, and

wherein the stage has a through-hole formed in the stage.

2 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one distance meter includes three or more distance meters provided so as to correspond to three or more measurement positions, respectively, and

wherein the controller is configured to control the tilt changer so as to make the top wall and the stage parallel to each other based on the distance between the top wall and the stage as measured by each of the three or more distance meters.

3 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein the controller is configured to:

control the rotator to rotate the stage until an angle at which the through-hole of the stage is aligned in position with the light emitted along the optical axis is established such that the light passes through the through-hole, and subsequently, instruct the at least one distance meter to measure a first distance between the at least one distance meter and the top wall;

control the rotator to rotate the stage until an angle at which the stage blocks the light emitted along the optical axis is established, and subsequently, instruct the at least one distance meter to measure a second distance between the at least one distance meter and a lower surface of the stage, and

calculate the distance between the top wall and the stage based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance.

4 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the through-hole is formed in an area outside an area of the stage on which the substrate is placed.

5 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one distance meter includes three or more distance meters provided so as to correspond three or more measurement positions, respectively, and

wherein the three or more distance meters are arranged at regular intervals along an outer periphery of the stage when viewed from a direction crossing the surface of the top wall.

6 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the through-hole is a plurality of through-holes that are provided so as to correspond to the three or more distance meters, and

wherein the plurality of through-holes are arranged at regular intervals along the outer periphery of the stage.

7 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the bottom wall of the processing container is connected to a plate member via a link member that absorbs a deformation of the bottom wall,

wherein the tilt changer is configured to change the tilt of the stage with reference to the plate member, and

wherein the at least one distance meter is fixed to the plate member.

8 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to control the at least one distance meter to measure the distance between the top wall and the stage after the substrate is placed on the stage, an internal pressure of the processing container is adjusted to a pressure used for a processing on the substrate, and a temperature of the substrate is adjusted to a temperature used for the processing on the substrate.

9 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to control the at least one distance meter to measure the distance between the top wall and the stage at each of the measurement positions after a cleaning on the interior of the processing container is executed.

10 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the at least one distance meter includes three or more distance meters provided so as to correspond three or more measurement positions, respectively, and

wherein the three or more distance meters are arranged at regular intervals along an outer periphery of the stage when viewed from a direction crossing the surface of the top wall.

11 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a rotator configured to rotate the stage,

wherein the at least one distance meter is provided below the stage and is configured to emit light toward the measurement position and to measure a distance between the at least one distance meter and an object on an optical axis of the light based on the emitted light and received light reflected from the object,

wherein the stage has a through-hole formed in the stage, and

wherein the controller is configured to:

control the rotator to rotate the stage until an angle at which the through-hole of the stage is aligned in position with the light emitted along the optical axis is established such that the light passes through the through-hole, and subsequently, instruct the at least one distance meter to measure a first distance between the at least one distance meter and the top wall;

control the rotator to rotate the stage until an angle at which the stage blocks the light emitted along the optical axis is established, and subsequently, instruct the at least one distance meter to measure a second distance between the at least one distance meter and a lower surface of the stage, and

calculate the distance between the top wall and the stage based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance.

12 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall of the processing container is connected to a plate member via a link member that absorbs a deformation of the bottom wall,

wherein the tilt changer is configured to change the tilt of the stage with reference to the plate member, and

wherein the at least one distance meter is fixed to the plate member.

13 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the at least one distance meter to measure the distance between the top wall and the stage after the substrate is placed on the stage, an internal pressure of the processing container is adjusted to a pressure used for a processing on the substrate, and a temperature of the substrate is adjusted to a temperature used for the processing on the substrate.

14 . The vacuum processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the at least one distance meter to measure the distance between the top wall and the stage at each of the measurement positions after a cleaning on the interior of the processing container is executed.

15 . A tilt adjustment method comprising:

a first rotation operation of rotating a stage on which a substrate is placed until an angle at which a through-hole formed in the stage is aligned in position with light emitted from a distance meter provided below the stage along an optical axis is established such that the light passes through the through-hole;

a first measurement operation of measuring a first distance between the distance meter and a top wall of a processing container based on the light emitted from the distance meter to the top wall along the optical axis and light received by the distance meter;

a second rotation operation of rotating the stage until an angle at which the stage blocks the light emitted from the distance meter along the optical axis is established;

a second measurement operation of measuring a second distance between the distance meter and a lower surface of the stage based on the light emitted from the distance meter along the optical axis and the light received by the distance meter; and

a change operation of calculating a distance between the top wall and the stage based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance, and changing a tilt of the stage with respect to the top wall so as to make the top wall and the stage parallel to each other based on the calculated distance.