Vacuum processing apparatus and tilt adjustment method

A vacuum processing apparatus comprising:

• a processing container having a top wall, a bottom wall, a sidewall, and an interior that is kept in a vacuum atmosphere;
• a stage provided inside the processing container and configured to hold a substrate placed on the stage so as to face the top wall;
• a support member penetrating the bottom wall of the processing container to support the stage from below;
• a tilt changer provided at an end portion of the support member located outside the processing container and configured to change a tilt of the stage with respect to the top wall of the processing container;
• at least one distance meter configured to measure a distance between the top wall and the stage at a measurement position on a surface of the top wall facing the stage;
• and
• a controller configured to control the tilt changer so as to make the top wall and the stage parallel to each other based on the distance between the top wall and the stage as measured by the at least one distance meter.

A tilt adjustment method comprising:

• a first rotation operation of rotating a stage on which a substrate is placed until an angle at which a through-hole formed in the stage is aligned in position with light emitted from a distance meter provided below the stage along an optical axis is established such that the light passes through the through-hole;
• a first measurement operation of measuring a first distance between the distance meter and a top wall of a processing container based on the light emitted from the distance meter to the top wall along the optical axis and light received by the distance meter;
• a second rotation operation of rotating the stage until an angle at which the stage blocks the light emitted from the distance meter along the optical axis is established;
• a second measurement operation of measuring a second distance between the distance meter and a lower surface of the stage based on the light emitted from the distance meter along the optical axis and the light received by the distance meter;
• and
• a change operation of calculating a distance between the top wall and the stage based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance, and changing a tilt of the stage with respect to the top wall so as to make the top wall and the stage parallel to each other based on the calculated distance.