Patent ID: 8366370

Claim:
A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: a transfer container in which a wafer is transferred in an internal space thereof reduced in pressure; a vacuum vessel which is coupled to a side wall of the transfer container and includes a processing chamber having therein a sample stage on which the wafer to be processed is mounted; a lid member which opens and closes the vacuum vessel at an upper portion thereof; an inner chamber member which is arranged in the vacuum vessel and constitutes an inner wall of the processing chamber, and a jig which is disposed outside the vacuum vessel and is coupled to the side wall of the vacuum vessel while the wafer disposed inside the processing chamber is processed; wherein the jig includes an extensible arm portion, a first joint portion to which the extensible arm portion is coupled and which has a vertical axis and a horizontal axis around which the extensible arm portion rotates, and a second joint portion which is arranged at a forward end of the extensible arm portion and coupled with the inner chamber member so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis thereof, and wherein, in a state that the inside of the vacuum vessel is opened to atmosphere by opening the lid, the jig is configured to be able to move up and retrieve the inner chamber member coupled with the second joint portion from the vacuum vessel in a state that the forward end of the extensible arm portion is inserted within the vacuum vessel, wherein the inner chamber member is configured of a plurality of member units arranged above and under the sample stage, and wherein after the sample stage is lifted and retrieved by the jig above the vacuum vessel from an inside thereof, the member unit of the inner chamber member arranged under the sample stage is coupled to the jig so that the arm portion is rotated around the first joint portion and adapted to be retrieved from the vacuum vessel.