Abstract: An apparatus for performing continuous treatment in vacuum including an inlet chamber, a first intermediate chamber, at least one vacuum treating chamber, a second intermediate chamber and a withdrawing chamber arranged in the indicated order in a direction in which base plates are successively transferred. An opening device normally closed and opened when a base plate is transferred therethrough is mounted on a wall at the inlet of the inlet chamber, between the adjacent chambers and on a wall at the outlet side of the withdrawing chamber. A conveyor device for conveying each base plate in a horizontal direction through the opening device is mounted in each of the chambers, and an evacuating device is also mounted in each chamber. A base plate storing device for storing a plurality of base plates in a magazine is mounted in the first and second intermediate chambers. At least one vacuum treating device is mounted in the vacuum treating chamber.

Abstract: In a sputtering apparatus comprising a main chamber for carrying out sputtering and a preliminary chamber for preliminarily processing a substrate prior to sputtering, a gate valve interposed between the chambers is opened with the pressure in the preliminary chamber is reduced lower than that in the main chamber after completion of the preliminary processing. The pressure reduction is carried out by reducing supply of a gas into the preliminary chamber by the use of a pressure control system coupled to the preliminary chamber. Preferably, the supply of the gas is bypassed through a valve to an exhausting system for the preliminary chamber. Alternatively, the pressure in the main chamber is made higher than that in the preliminary chamber after completion of the preliminary processing by squeezing an evacuation system for the main chamber to reduce the rate of evacuation. Supply of the gas into the preliminary chamber and evacuation of the main chamber may be simultaneously reduced.