Apparatus for reduced-pressure epitaxial growth and method of controlling the apparatus

摘要

An apparatus for reduced-pressure gaseous phase epitaxial growth by suppressing contamination upon the machine parts constituting the rotary mechanical portion and suppressing contamination upon the semiconductor wafer by maintaining the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion to lie within a particular range, and a method of controlling the above apparatus. The apparatus comprises a purging gas introduction pipe 6 for purging the interior of the rotary mechanical portion, a purging gas exhaust pipe 7 for exhausting the gas introduced through the purging gas introduction pipe, a pressure adjusting valve 41 provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, a pressure gauge 21 for detecting the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion, and an arithmetic/control unit 31 for executing an arithmetic operation based upon the detected pressure and for controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve 41 provided in the purging gas exhaust pipe, so that the pressure in the rotary mechanical portion assumes a proper value.