Patents by Inventor Kouji Nishihata
Kouji Nishihata has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20010008051Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2001Publication date: July 19, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010007175Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2001Publication date: July 12, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010004807Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 12, 2001Publication date: June 28, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010004554Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2001Publication date: June 21, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010003873Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2001Publication date: June 21, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010002517Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2001Publication date: June 7, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010001901Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate a storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2001Publication date: May 31, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010001902Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 24, 2001Publication date: May 31, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Publication number: 20010000048Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 29, 2000Publication date: March 22, 2001Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6112431Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 1999Date of Patent: September 5, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6108929Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: December 16, 1999Date of Patent: August 29, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6070341Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: September 7, 1999Date of Patent: June 6, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6069096Abstract: A vacuum processing system including two or more processing units for processing wafers and a transferring unit for carrying the wafers. In this system, even when any one of the processing units becomes inoperable because of a failure, the operation of the system can be continued, and even when a processing unit in the system requires repair or maintenance at the time of the start of operation, the system can be operated using other operable processing units without subjecting the operator to danger due to improper operation. As a result, the working efficiency of the system can be increased and the safety of the operator can be secured. In this system, the cleaning of the interior of each processing unit is performed by carrying a cleaning dummy wafer into each processing unit using the transferring unit, followed by recovery of the dummy wafer after cleaning, so that processing of wafers in the processing unit can be carried out once again.Type: GrantFiled: September 8, 1997Date of Patent: May 30, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Kouji Nishihata, Kazuhiro Joo, Shoji Ikuhara, Tetsuya Tahara, Shoji Okiguchi
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Patent number: 6055740Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: January 15, 1999Date of Patent: May 2, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6044576Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: September 7, 1999Date of Patent: April 4, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 6012235Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: October 23, 1998Date of Patent: January 11, 2000Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 5950330Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: April 16, 1998Date of Patent: September 14, 1999Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 5784799Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus having vacuum processing chambers the insides of which must be dry cleaned, and to a method of operating such an apparatus. When the vacuum processing chambers are dry-cleaned, dummy substrates are transferred into the vacuum processing chamber by substrates conveyor means from dummy substrate storage means which is disposed in the air atmosphere together with storage means for storing substrates to be processed, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber is dry-cleaned by generating a plasma. The dummy substrate is returned to the dummy substrate storage means after dry cleaning is completed. Accordingly, any specific mechanism for only the cleaning purpose is not necessary and the construction of the apparatus can be made simple.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 1997Date of Patent: July 28, 1998Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou
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Patent number: 5685684Abstract: A vacuum treating apparatus having a vacuum treating chamber for treating a to-be-treated substrate in vacuum, includes a plurality of substrate cassettes which are installed in the open air and hold substrates that are to be conveyed into the vacuum treating chamber, a device for conveying the substrates between the substrate cassettes and the vacuum treating chamber, and a device which selects either that the to-be-treated substrate after treated in the vacuum treating chamber be held in the substrate cassette from which the to-be-treated substrate was taken out or that the to-be-treated substrate after treated in the vacuum treating chamber be held in another substrate cassette which is different from the substrate cassette.Type: GrantFiled: March 7, 1996Date of Patent: November 11, 1997Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Shigekazu Kato, Naoyuki Tamura, Kouji Nishihata, Tsunehiko Tsubone, Atsushi Itou, Kenji Nakata, Yoshifumi Ogawa
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Patent number: 5673750Abstract: This invention relates to a vacuum processing method and apparatus. When a sample is plasma processed under a reduced pressure, a sample bed is cooled by a cooling medium kept at a predetermined temperature lower than an etching temperature, the sample is held on the sample bed, a heat transfer gas is supplied between the back of the sample and the sample installation surface of the sample bed, and the pressure of the heat transfer gas is controlled so as to bring the sample to a predetermined processing temperature. Before the step of holding the sample on the sample bed and supplying the heat transfer gas, heat transfer gas remaining upstream and downstream of the flow rate regulator in the supply line for the heat transfer gas is vacuum exhausted. This is accomplished using a bypass line connected upstream and downstream of the flow rate regulator and an arrangement of appropriate valves.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 1995Date of Patent: October 7, 1997Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.Inventors: Tsunehiko Tsubone, Naoyuki Tamura, Shigekazu Kato, Kouji Nishihata, Atsushi Itou