Vacuum processing apparatus and vacuum processing method
View Patent ↗A vacuum processing apparatus and method in which the apparatus includes vacuum processing chambers for subjecting a sample to vacuum processing, a vacuum carriage, a switchable chamber, a cassette support for supporting a plurality of cassettes capable of housing samples, and a waiting cassette support for supporting a waiting cassette that differs from the cassettes supported on the cassette support and capable of having a number of samples. An atmospheric carriage enables carrying a sample among a given cassette of the plurality of cassettes or the waiting cassette. A controller effects control for carrying unprocessed and processed samples among the given cassette, the waiting cassette and the vacuum processing chamber, so that a mixture of both processed and unprocessed samples does not exist in the given cassette or the waiting cassette.
1. A vacuum processing method comprising:
taking out an unprocessed sample from a given cassette supported on a cassette supporting means;
carrying the unprocessed sample into one of a plurality of vacuum processing chambers via a switchable chamber capable of being switched between atmosphere and vacuum;
subjecting the unprocessed sample to vacuum processing; and
carrying the processed sample into the given cassette;
wherein while subjecting the sample taken out of the given cassette to processing, only either a sequence (A) of an unprocessed sample in the given cassette or a sequence (B) of a processed sample processed in the vacuum processing chamber is put in waiting in a waiting cassette supported on a waiting cassette supporting means disposed in atmosphere, so that the sample is carried in a state where the processed sample and the unprocessed sample are not mixed in the given cassette; and
(1) wherein if the sequence (B) is chosen then the processed sample taken out of the given cassette and subjected to vacuum processing is put in waiting in the waiting cassette, and the processed sample is returned from the waiting cassette to the given cassette in a state where no unprocessed sample exists in the given cassette; or
(2) wherein if the sequence (A) is chosen then an unprocessed sample is taken out of the given cassette and carried into one of the vacuum processing chambers, an unprocessed sample remaining in the given cassette is taken out and put in waiting in the waiting cassette, the unprocessed sample taken out of the given cassette or the waiting cassette is subjected to vacuum processing, and the processed sample is returned to the given cassette in a state where no unprocessed sample exists in the given cassette.