| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the power consumption of a vacuum pump and improve productivity and reliability by interruptibly connecting the intake side of a vacuum pump body to a load with a first valve, and interruptibly connecting the intake side of the vacuum pump body to the atmospheric pressure side with a second valve. SOLUTION: A vacuum pump body 2 is connected via a valve 5 to the evacuation side of a chamber 1 where a semiconductor device is processed, a conductance valve 4 is installed on a pipe 8 from the intake side of the vacuum pump body 2 to the valve 5, and an inert gas such as N2 or air can be introduced to the intake side of the vacuum pump body 2 from the conductance valve 4. The load state of the chamber 1 is detected when the inside of the chamber 1 is pressure-controlled at a high vacuum pressure. When the inside of the chamber 1 is set to a waiting state, the valve 5 is closed, the conductance valve 4 is opened to introduce the inert gas, and the intake side pressure of the vacuum pump body 2 is controlled near the atmospheric pressure.
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