Pressure-reduced chamber system having a filter means

摘要

The pressure-reduced chamber system of the invention includes a handling mechanism for loading and/or unloading a semiconductor wafer between a process chamber in which a plasma etching is carried out on a semiconductor wafer under a reduced pressure, and a pressure-reduced chamber. Further, the system includes an outer cover for covering the driving force transmitting section of the handling mechanism, a filter mounted to the outer cover such that it defines the inside and outside of the outer cover, and an exhaustion pump for evacuating the space region formed between the outer cover and the pressure-reduced chamber. Thus, when the space region is evacuated by the exhaustion pump, the dust generated from the driving force transmitting section of the handling mechanism is caught by the filter.