JP2001257164A - Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method and pressure control method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To uniformly perform various substrate treatments, such as making the distribution of a material gas in a vacuum vessel uniform, depositing a thin film with little variation in film quality and thickness. A vacuum vessel, gas supply means for supplying a material gas to the vacuum vessel, pressure detecting means for detecting a pressure in the vacuum vessel, and a plurality of exhaust paths connected to the vacuum vessel. 38, 39, exhaust means connected to the exhaust path, exhaust conductance adjusting means 41, 44, 47, 48 installed between the exhaust means and the vacuum vessel in the plurality of exhaust paths; A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a pressure detection unit 45, 49 disposed between the exhaust conductance adjusting unit and the exhaust unit of the exhaust path, wherein each of the plurality of exhaust routes is controlled by the exhaust conductance adjusting unit. The pressure in the vacuum vessel is controlled so that the amount of exhaust gas becomes the same.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process for forming a semiconductor device from a material substrate such as a silicon wafer.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing various processes such as VD, etching, and impurity diffusion, a substrate processing method, and a pressure control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art During a process of forming a semiconductor device by a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and an LCD manufacturing apparatus, a material gas is introduced into a vacuum vessel and, for example, a high-frequency power is applied to form a thin film on a material substrate. And etching the substrate on which a circuit pattern has been formed in advance on the substrate on which the thin film has been deposited.

[0003] At that time, a material gas is introduced into the vacuum vessel, the material gas is activated by applying high frequency power to generate plasma, and radicals of the material gas generated by the plasma are deposited on the material substrate by a thin film. There is a plasma CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method for depositing a target film,
There is also a plasma etching method in which etching is performed by utilizing the reactivity between radicals of a material gas and a deposited film on a substrate.

In these steps, when the material gas is introduced into the vacuum vessel, the inside of the vacuum vessel is evacuated to a low pressure state, and then the material gas is introduced so that the distribution of the material gas is not biased. Introducing and then performing plasma treatment,
In the CVD process, it is important to improve the uniformity of the film thickness and film quality of the deposited film. In the etching process, it is important to improve the uniformity of the etching film thickness. This technology is necessary to produce high quality semiconductor devices.

A conventional plasma CVD processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 as an example of a substrate processing apparatus.

The vacuum vessel 1 is a pressure-resistant vessel having a ceiling plate 2, side plates 3, 4 and a bottom plate 5. An anode electrode 6 is installed inside the vacuum vessel 1 so as to be able to move up and down by a lifting device (not shown). Reference numeral 6 is grounded, and a susceptor 7 is provided on the anode electrode 6. A material substrate 8 is placed on the susceptor 7, and the material substrate 8 is loaded and unloaded from a loading / unloading port (not shown) provided in the side plate.

A cathode electrode 9 is mounted on the ceiling plate 2. A convex portion 11 is formed at the upper center of the cathode electrode 9, and the convex portion 11 penetrates through the ceiling plate 2, and a gas supply pipe 12 is connected to the convex portion 11. A material gas supply source (not shown) is connected to the gas supply pipe 12 so that the material gas is supplied to the vacuum vessel 1 via the cathode electrode 9.

A concave portion 13 is formed on the lower surface of the cathode electrode 9, and a gas shower plate 14 is fitted into an open end of the concave portion 13, and the gas shower plate 14 and the cathode electrode 9 are formed.
And a diffusion space 15 is formed between them. A large number of gas ejection holes 16 are formed in a predetermined range of the gas shower plate 14, and the material gas is dispersed and ejected by the gas ejection holes 16 through the diffusion space 15.

A high-frequency oscillator 18 is connected to the gas supply pipe 12 via an impedance matching device 17, and the high-frequency oscillator 18 is grounded.

A pressure detector 19 is provided on the side plate 4,
The pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is detected, and is input to an input control device 29 described later via a pressure detection signal input line 20.

An exhaust pipe 21 is connected below the bottom plate 5. The exhaust pipe 21 is located below the anode electrode 6, and the exhaust pipe 21 is provided with a variable conductance valve 22. The variable conductance valve 22 is a butterfly type generally used as shown in FIG. 4, and an annular flange 23 is hermetically mounted in the middle of the exhaust pipe 21. Valve body 24
Are mounted concentrically, and the valve body 24
5 and 26, the valve shaft 25 is rotatably supported by the flange 23, and one of the valve shafts 25 passes through the flange 23,
Variable conductance valve control device 27 at the penetrating end
Are connected, and the rotation of the valve shaft 25 rotates the valve body 24 to adjust the opening.

A vacuum exhaust device (not shown) is connected to the exhaust pipe 21 downstream of the variable conductance valve 22.

The variable conductance valve control device 2
7 is controlled by the main controller 28,
The main control device 28 includes the input control device 29, the output control device 30, an arithmetic processing device 31, and a storage device 32.

The input device 33 is controlled by the input control device 29.
And the pressure signal from the pressure detector 19 are sent to the arithmetic processing unit 31. The arithmetic processing unit 31 uses an arithmetic program stored in the storage unit 32 to optimize the input value. An appropriate control value is calculated, and the control value is sent to the output control device 30.
The control value is output from the output control device 30 to the control signal output line 34.
Is output to the variable conductance valve control device 27 via the

The material substrate 8 is placed on the susceptor 7 through the loading / unloading port (not shown) by a substrate transfer device (not shown), and the susceptor 7 is raised together with the anode electrode 6 by a lifting device (not shown). A substrate 8 is positioned on the cathode electrode 9 at a predetermined interval.

When adjusting the pressure of the vacuum vessel 1, a predetermined material gas flow value called a recipe input by the operator from the input device 33 or instructed by a production management host computer (not shown), Parameters such as a target pressure value and a high-frequency power value are processed by the main controller 28, and a material gas is introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 from the gas supply pipe 12 through the gas shower plate 14.

The material gas introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 is exhausted by a vacuum exhaust device (not shown) through a device such as a variable conductance valve 22 which is an exhaust conductance adjusting means.

The pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is determined by the pressure detector 1
9, the measured pressure signal is taken into the main control device 28 through the pressure detection signal input line 20 and the input control device 29, and the operation program is stored in the storage device 32 using the operation program. An optimum control value is calculated by the processing device 31 and the output control device 30. The control value is output from the main controller 28 to the variable conductance valve controller 27 through the control signal output line 34, and the variable conductance valve controller 27 sets the variable conductance valve 22 to the target pressure of the vacuum vessel 1. Control so that it becomes pressure.

The target pressure value is input from the input device 33, and is passed through the input control device 29 to the main control device 28.
Is taken in. When the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 detected by the pressure detector 19 is maintained at a target pressure,
High frequency power is applied to the cathode electrode 9 from the high frequency power supply through the impedance matching device 17. The material gas in the vacuum vessel 1 is excited by the applied high frequency power, the decomposition of gas molecules proceeds, and plasma is generated between the cathode electrode 9 and the anode electrode 6. Some of the gas molecules become radicals due to the plasma,
These radicals are deposited on the material substrate 8 placed on the susceptor 7 to form a film.

[0020]

In recent years, high integration of semiconductor devices has been advanced, and accordingly, a high-purity film quality with as few impurities as possible has been demanded in a thin film forming process in semiconductor manufacturing. Films must be formed under low pressure.

In addition, as the diameter of the material substrate 8 increases, the volume of the vacuum vessel 1 increases, so that a single low-pressure state is formed with a single exhaust path and a vacuum exhaust apparatus as in the related art. Things are getting harder.

This problem can be solved to some extent at low pressure by installing a plurality of exhaust paths and vacuum exhaust devices.

However, even if the same control signal is output from the main controller 28 to the plurality of exhaust conductance adjusting means provided in the plurality of exhaust paths to attempt pressure control, the exhaust gas in one exhaust path is exhausted. The conductance is not the same as the exhaust conductance of the other exhaust paths. This is due to a difference in capacity of the vacuum exhaust device, a difference in length of the exhaust path, a difference in conductance generated when the exhaust paths are connected by a joint, and the like.

For this reason, the distribution of the material gas varies in the vacuum vessel 1, and the plasma treatment is performed in an atmosphere in which the distribution of the material gas is not uniform. There is a possibility that the material becomes uneven on the material substrate 8. Therefore, it may be difficult to ensure uniformity of the film thickness and film quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a vacuum vessel capable of forming a low vacuum by having a plurality of evacuation paths and a vacuum evacuation device, the plurality of evacuation paths have the same evacuation conductance. While controlling to the target pressure, it aims to make the distribution of the material gas in the vacuum chamber uniform and to deposit various thin films with little variation in film quality and thickness, and to perform various substrate treatments uniformly. It is.

[0026]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a vacuum vessel,
Gas supply means for supplying a material gas to the vacuum vessel, pressure detection means for detecting the pressure in the vacuum vessel, a plurality of exhaust paths connected to the vacuum vessel, and exhaust means connected to the exhaust path And an exhaust conductance adjusting means installed between the exhaust means and the vacuum vessel of the plurality of exhaust paths, and an exhaust conductance adjusting means installed between the exhaust conductance adjusting means and the exhaust means of the plurality of exhaust paths. A substrate processing apparatus having a pressure detection unit, wherein the exhaust conductance adjusting unit controls the pressure in the vacuum vessel so that the exhaust gas amounts of the plurality of exhaust paths are substantially the same. In a substrate processing method according to a processing apparatus and performing a predetermined process on a material substrate in a vacuum vessel, exhaust is performed from a peripheral position of the material substrate through a plurality of exhaust paths. The present invention relates to a substrate processing method for performing predetermined processing on the material substrate by controlling the exhaust gas amount of the material gas to be substantially equal by the exhaust conductance adjusting means. Also, after controlling the pressure in the vacuum vessel to a target pressure, The present invention relates to a pressure control method for controlling the exhaust flow rate from each exhaust path by calculating the average exhaust flow rate per exhaust path by dividing the total flow rate by the number of exhaust paths, and using the average exhaust flow rate as a control value. The present invention relates to a pressure control method for controlling one exhaust conductance adjusting means by using an average exhaust flow rate per exhaust path as a control value, and correcting the fluctuated control value by controlling the other exhaust conductance adjusting means. Things.

Since the exhaust gas amounts from the plurality of exhaust paths are equal, the material gas concentration in the vacuum vessel becomes uniform,
The composition and deposition amount of the reaction product become uniform on the material substrate.

In the case of CVD, a uniform thin film having little variation in both film thickness and film quality can be deposited. In the case of etching, diffusion, or the like, uniform etching and impurity diffusion can be performed over the entire surface of the material substrate.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the same components as those in FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a plasma processing apparatus, a substrate processing method and a pressure control method according to the present invention.
This is an example applied to a VD device.

The vacuum vessel 1 is an airtight pressure-resistant vessel having a ceiling plate 2, side plates 3, 4 and a bottom plate 5, and a cathode electrode 9 is mounted on a lower surface of the ceiling plate 2. The cathode electrode 9 has a convex portion 11 formed at the center of the upper surface, the convex portion 11 penetrates the ceiling plate 2, and a gas supply pipe 12 is connected to the convex portion 11. A high-frequency oscillator 18 is connected to the gas supply pipe 12 via an impedance matching device 17, and the high-frequency oscillator 18 is grounded.

A concave portion 13 is formed on the lower surface of the cathode electrode 9, and a gas shower plate 14 is fitted into an open end of the concave portion 13.
And a diffusion space 15 is formed between them. The gas shower plate 14 is provided with a large number of gas ejection holes 16 in a range substantially the same size as the material substrate 8.

An anode electrode 6 is provided below the gas shower plate 14 so as to be able to move up and down by a lifting device (not shown), and the anode electrode 6 is grounded. A susceptor 7 is provided on the anode electrode 6, and the material substrate 8 is placed on the susceptor 7. The material substrate 8
Are loaded and unloaded from a loading / unloading port (not shown) provided in the side plate of the vacuum vessel 1.

A first pressure detector 35 is attached to the outer surface of the side plate 4 at the upper end.

The opposed side plates 3 and 4 of the vacuum vessel 1
Exhaust ports 36 and 37 are formed in the lower part of the housing. The exhaust ports 36, 37 have the same opening area, and the exhaust ports 36, 3
The exhaust pipes 38 and 39 are connected to 7.

The exhaust pipe 38 is provided with a first variable conductance valve 41. The first variable conductance valve 41 is of a butterfly type and has an annular flange 42 and a disc-shaped valve element 43. The flange 42 is hermetically mounted in the middle of the exhaust pipe 38. The valve body 43 is rotatably supported by a diametric valve shaft. One of the valve shafts penetrates the flange 42, and a first variable conductance valve control device 44 is connected to an end penetrating the flange 42. The rotation of the valve shaft rotates the valve body 43 to adjust the opening. ing.

A second pressure detector 45 is provided on the exhaust pipe 38 downstream of the first variable conductance valve 41 so that the pressure in the exhaust pipe 38 is detected. The downstream side of the second pressure detector 45 of the exhaust pipe 38 is connected to a vacuum exhaust device (not shown).

The exhaust pipe 39 also has a second
A variable conductance valve 47, a second variable conductance valve control device 48, and a third pressure detector 49 are provided similarly to the case of the exhaust pipe 38. The exhaust pipe 3
The downstream side of 9 is connected to a different evacuation device (not shown).

The first variable conductance valve control device 44 and the second variable conductance valve control device 48 are controlled by a main control device 28. The main control device 28 includes an input control device 29, an output control The apparatus includes a device 30, an arithmetic processing unit 31, and a storage device 32.

The input device 33 is controlled by the input control device 29.
And the pressure signal from the first pressure detector 35 is transmitted through a first pressure detection signal input line 51, and the pressure signal from the second pressure detector 45 is transmitted through a second pressure detection signal input line 53.
As a result, the pressure signal from the third pressure detector 49 becomes the third
The signal is input through a pressure detection signal input line 52 and sent to the arithmetic processing unit 31.
Numeral 1 is used to calculate the opening control values of the valve bodies 43 and 46 so that the exhaust flow rates of the exhaust pipes 38 and 39 become equal using a calculation program stored in the storage device 32. The opening control value is output from the output control device 30 to the first variable conductance valve control device 44 via the first control signal output line 54, and the second control signal output line 55
Via the second variable conductance valve controller 4
8 is output.

Next, a flowchart of the pressure control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

STEP 100: The pressure control of the vacuum vessel 1 is started.

STEP110: The pressure control is performed in STEP111 to STEP118 ignoring the difference in the exhaust conductance.

STEP 111: The initial opening of the first variable conductance valve 41 and the second variable conductance valve 47 is set to 50%.

STEP 112: An initial value of an opening deviation value for changing the opening degree of the first variable conductance valve 41 and the second variable conductance valve 47 is set.

STEP 113: The degree of opening is set to the first variable conductance valve 41.

STEP 114: The degree of opening is set to the second variable conductance valve 47.

STEP 115: Update the opening deviation value to one half of the previously set opening deviation value.

STEP 116: The measured pressure value in the vacuum vessel 1 is compared with the control target pressure value.

STEP 117: When the control target pressure value <the measured pressure value, the value obtained by adding the opening deviation value to the opening degree value is reset as the opening degree value. Thereafter, the flow returns to STEP113.

STEP 118: If the control target pressure value = the measured pressure value, a value obtained by subtracting the opening deviation value from the opening degree value is reset as the opening degree value. Thereafter, the flow returns to STEP113.

STEP120: If the control target pressure value> the measured pressure value, the exhaust conductance control target value is set to the STE
It is calculated from P121 to STEP123.

STEP 121: Calculate the conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41.

STEP 122: Calculate the conductance of the second variable conductance valve 47.

STEP123: STEP121 and ST
The average conductance is calculated from the conductance calculated in EP122. Next, STEP130 is executed.

STEP130: The pressure is controlled by STEP131 to STEP136 for the purpose of equalizing the exhaust conductance.

STEP 131: The conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41 is compared with the average conductance.

STEP 132: If the conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41> the average conductance, a value obtained by subtracting the small opening control amount ΔR from the opening degree value of the first variable conductance valve 41 is reset as the opening degree value. Next, STEP134 is executed.

STEP 133: If the conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41 is smaller than the average conductance, the value obtained by adding the small opening control amount ΔR to the opening degree value of the first variable conductance valve 41 is reset as the opening degree value. Next, STEP 134 is executed.

STEP 134: The measured pressure value in the vacuum vessel 1 is compared with the control target pressure value.

STEP 135: If control target pressure value> measured pressure value, a value obtained by subtracting the minute opening control amount ΔR from the opening degree value of the second variable conductance valve 47 is reset as the opening degree value. Thereafter, the flow returns to STEP131.

STEP 136: If the control target pressure value <the measured pressure value, the value obtained by adding the small opening control amount ΔR to the opening degree value of the second variable conductance valve 47 is reset as the opening degree value. Thereafter, the flow returns to STEP131.

STEP 140: When the conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41 is equal to the average conductance, the pressure control ends.

The substrate processing method of the present invention is as follows.

The material substrate 8 is placed on the susceptor 7 through the loading / unloading port (not shown) by a substrate transfer device (not shown), and the susceptor 7 is lifted together with the anode electrode 6 by a lifting device (not shown). A substrate 8 is positioned on the cathode electrode 9 at a predetermined interval.

When adjusting the pressure of the vacuum vessel 1, a predetermined material gas flow rate value and a target pressure value input from the input device 33 by an operator or instructed from a production management host computer (not shown). The main controller 28 processes parameters such as a high-frequency power value, and a material gas is introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 from the gas supply pipe 12 through the gas shower plate 14.

The material gas introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 is supplied to the exhaust pipe 38 and the first variable conductance valve 41,
The gas is exhausted by a vacuum exhaust device (not shown) through the exhaust pipe 39 and the second variable conductance valve 47.

The pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 is
5, the measured pressure signal is taken into the main control device 28 through the first pressure detection signal input line 51 and the input control device 29, and uses an arithmetic program stored in the storage device 32, The arithmetic processing unit 31
, An optimum control value is calculated.

A material gas is introduced from a gas supply pipe 12 into the vacuum vessel 1 evacuated to a low pressure state. In a transitional period until the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 reaches the target pressure value, the gas is retained in the vacuum vessel 1 to increase the pressure in a transition period until the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 reaches the target pressure value. Therefore, the relationship between the total material gas flow rate Q0 and the total exhaust gas flow rate Q is Q0> Q, but in a stable state where the target pressure is controlled, the relation Q0 = Q holds.

The total exhaust amount of the material gas at the target pressure is Q, the total exhaust flow rate of the material gas exhausted from the first variable conductance valve 41 is Q1, and the total amount of the material gas exhausted from the second variable conductance valve 47 is Q1. Exhaust flow rate is Q2
Then, it can be expressed as Q = Q1 + Q2.

Further, the pressure value obtained from the first pressure detector 35 via the first pressure detection signal input line 51 is P1,
The pressure value obtained from the second pressure detector 45 provided downstream of the first variable conductance valve 41 via the second pressure detection signal input line 53 is P2, and the pressure value obtained downstream of the second variable conductance valve 47 is P2. The pressure value obtained from the third pressure detector 49 installed in the first through the third pressure detection signal input line 52 is P3, the conductance of the first variable conductance valve 41 is C1, and the pressure value of the second variable conductance valve 47 is C1. The conductance is C2, the opening degree of the first variable conductance valve 41 is R1, and the opening degree of the second variable conductance valve 47 is R2.

The first stage will be described with reference to STEP 110 in FIG.

The same control is performed on the first variable conductance valve 41 via the first control signal output line 54 and on the second variable conductance valve 47 via the second control signal output line 55 via the output control device 30. Providing an output signal to the first variable conductance valve 4
For the first and second variable conductance valves 47, the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 is controlled to a target pressure value by controlling the angles of the valve bodies 43 and 46.

The second stage will be described with reference to STEP 120 in FIG.

A material gas flow rate Q1 flowing through the first variable conductance valve 41 and a material gas flow rate Q2 flowing through the second variable conductance valve 47 are calculated.

Q1 = C1 · (P1-P2)

Q2 = C2 · (P1-P3)

Further, a material gas exhaust flow rate Q 'per exhaust path is calculated from the gas flow rates Q1 and Q2.

Q '= (Q1 + Q2) / 2

The third step will be described with reference to STEP 130 in FIG.

In step 131, Q1 and Q 'are compared.

The first variable conductance valve 41 operates the valve body 43 by the minute angle Δd while calculating the material gas flow rate Q1 at every minute time interval Δt. At this time, when the gas flow rate Q1 flowing through the first variable conductance valve 41 is larger than Q ', STEP1 is performed.
The small aperture control amount ΔR is subtracted by 32 to reduce the conductance, and when it is small, the small aperture control amount ΔR is added by STEP 133 to increase the conductance.

By changing the first variable conductance valve 41, the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 deviates from the target pressure. This pressure deviation is determined by the operation of the valve body 46 of the second variable conductance valve 47. Adjust.

The operation of STEP 130 is performed by changing the material gas flow rate Q1 flowing through the first variable conductance valve 41 to Q '.
Repeat recursively until is equal to By the above operation, the first
When the gas flow rate Q1 flowing through the variable conductance valve 41 becomes equal to Q ′, Q1 = Q2 from the relation of Q = Q1 + Q2, and the material gas flow rates flowing through the first variable conductance valve 41 and the second variable conductance valve 47 are equal. Thus, the material gas in the vacuum vessel 1 can be uniformly exhausted.

When the pressure in the vacuum vessel 1 measured by the pressure detector is maintained at a target pressure, high-frequency power is applied from the high-frequency power source to the cathode electrode 9 through the impedance matching device 17. . The applied high-frequency power excites the material gas in the vacuum vessel 1, and the gas molecules are decomposed, and the cathode electrode 9,
Plasma is generated between the anode electrode 6. Some of the gas molecules are converted into radicals by the plasma, and the radicals are deposited on the material substrate 8 placed on the susceptor 7 to form a film. Since the material gas in the vacuum vessel 1 is maintained uniformly by the above-described pressure control, a film having a uniform composition is formed over the entire surface of the material substrate 8 with a uniform thickness.

The substrate processing apparatus, the substrate processing method, and the pressure control method of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be applied to heating processing other than plasma processing using a high-frequency oscillator. Although the same pressure control is possible even if three or more are provided, the control method using the two-branch search for the first-stage pressure control has been described. Of course, control or the like may be used.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of exhaust gas from a plurality of exhaust paths becomes equal, the material gas concentration in the vacuum vessel becomes uniform, and the composition and deposition amount of reaction products Becomes uniform on the material substrate.

In the case of CVD, a uniform thin film having little variation in film thickness and film quality can be deposited. In the case of etching, diffusion processing, etc., uniform etching and impurity diffusion can be performed over the entire surface of the substrate. It exhibits various excellent effects such as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a pressure control method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a variable conductance valve in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum container 6 Anode electrode 7 Susceptor 8 Material substrate 9 Cathode electrode 12 Gas supply pipe 14 Gas shower plate 18 High frequency oscillator 28 Main control device 29 Input control device 30 Output control device 31 Arithmetic processing unit 32 Storage device 33 Input device 35 First Pressure detector 36 Exhaust port 37 Exhaust port 38 Exhaust pipe 39 Exhaust pipe 41 First variable conductance valve 43 Valve 44 First variable conductance valve controller 45 Second pressure detector 46 Valve 47 Second variable conductance valve 48 Second Variable conductance valve controller 49 Third pressure detector

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission Date] May 11, 2000 (2000.5.1)
1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

Claims (4)

[Claims] A vacuum vessel, gas supply means for supplying a material gas to the vacuum vessel, pressure detection means for detecting a pressure in the vacuum vessel, a plurality of exhaust paths connected to the vacuum vessel, Exhaust means connected to the exhaust path, exhaust conductance adjusting means installed between the exhaust means of the plurality of exhaust paths and the vacuum vessel, exhaust conductance adjusting means of the plurality of exhaust paths, and A pressure detecting means provided between the vacuum chamber and the exhaust means, wherein the exhaust conductance adjusting means makes the exhaust gas amounts of the plurality of exhaust paths substantially equal to each other, and A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the pressure of the substrate is controlled. 2. A substrate processing method for performing a predetermined process on a material substrate in a vacuum vessel, wherein the material substrate is evacuated from a peripheral position through a plurality of exhaust paths, and the amount of exhaust gas from each exhaust path is reduced. A substrate processing method, wherein the material substrate is subjected to a predetermined process by controlling the material substrate to be substantially uniform by an exhaust conductance adjusting means. 3. After controlling the pressure in the vacuum vessel to a target pressure, the total flow rate of the material gas is divided by the number of exhaust paths to obtain an average exhaust flow rate per exhaust path, and the average exhaust flow rate is controlled. A pressure control method, comprising controlling a flow rate of exhaust gas from each exhaust path as a value. 4. An exhaust gas conductance adjusting means for controlling one exhaust conductance adjusting means by using an average exhaust flow rate per exhaust path as a control value, and correcting the fluctuated control value by controlling the other exhaust conductance adjusting means. The pressure control method according to claim 3.