Method and apparatus for cleaning film deposition device

A thermal cleaning apparatus of a film deposition apparatus, comprising:

• a processing container in which a mounting table for mounting an object to be processed thereon is accommodated;
• a cleaning-gas supplying means for supplying a cleaning gas into the processing container;
• a vacuum exhausting system for exhausting an atmosphere in the processing container to provide a vacuum;
• an automatic pressure regulating valve interposed in the vacuum exhausting system so that pressure in the processing container can be maintained at a constant pressure by changing an opening degree of the automatic pressure regulating valve;
• a valve-opening monitoring means for monitoring the opening degree of the automatic pressure regulating valve;
• a change detecting means for detecting a change in the opening degree from an opening degree corresponding to a stable condition on a basis of an output from the valve-opening monitoring means;
• and
• a cleaning-end-point recognizing means for recognizing an end point of a cleaning operation when the opening degree has changed by more than a predetermined amount on a basis of an output from the change detecting means.

A thermal cleaning apparatus of a film deposition apparatus, comprising:

• a processing container in which a mounting table for mounting an object to be processed thereon is accommodated;
• a cleaning-gas supplying means for supplying a cleaning gas into the processing container;
• a vacuum exhausting system for exhausting an atmosphere in the processing container to provide a vacuum;
• an automatic pressure regulating valve interposed in the vacuum exhausting system so that pressure in the processing container can be mantained at a constant pressure by changing an opening degree of the automatic regulating valve;
• a valve-opening monitoring means for monitoring the opening degree of the automatic pressure regulating valve;
• a change detecting means for detecting a change in the opening degree from an opening degree corresponding to a stable condition on a basis of an output from the valve-opening monitoring means;
• and
• a cleaning-end-point recognizing means for recognizing an end point of a cleaning operation when a predetermined period has passed since the opening degree changed by more than a predetermined amount on a basis of an output from the change detecting means.