Vacuum Processing Apparatus, Vacuum Processing Method, and Micro-Machining Apparatus

A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising:

• a first vacuum chamber having a first holding part disposed therein and configured to hold a silicon substrate;
• a nozzle part configured to adiabatically expand a processing gas having a pressure higher than a pressure in the first vacuum chamber by discharging the processing gas to the first vacuum chamber to form a gas cluster that is an aggregation of atoms or molecules of the processing gas, and to irradiate the gas cluster to the silicon substrate held in the first holding part in order to make the silicon substrate to become a porous state;
• a second vacuum chamber connected to the first vacuum chamber through a partition valve, and configured to have a second holding part disposed therein for holding the silicon substrate;
• a film forming processing part configured to perform a film forming processing under a vacuum atmosphere for the porous silicon substrate within the second vacuum chamber;
• and
• a vacuum transportation area including a transportation mechanism configured to transport the porous silicon substrate in the first vacuum chamber to the second vacuum chamber without breaking the vacuum atmosphere,
• wherein the gas cluster is not ionized.