Method for vacuum treatment of workpieces and vacuum treatment facility

A method for vacuum treatment of workpieces, comprising:

• a) introducing a workpiece into an interlock chamber (1) that is open to an ambient atmosphere (U);
• b) pumping out the interlock chamber (1) after the interlock chamber has been closed (3) against said ambient atmosphere;
• c) opening the interlock chamber into a vacuum chamber configuration (7) which is at least partially pumped out;
• d) transporting the workpiece from the interlock chamber (1) into the configuration (7);
• e) treating the workpiece in the configuration (7);
• f) transporting the workpiece back from the configuration (7) into the interlock chamber (1);
• g) closing (5) the interlock chamber (1) against the configuration (7), and subsequently flooding the interlock chamber;
• h) carrying the treated workpiece from the flooded interlock chamber (1) into the ambient atmosphere (U);
• i) pumping out at least a portion of the configuration (7) by means of a turbo vacuum pump (13) with a forevacuum pump (15) operationally connected therewith at a high-pressure side of the turbo vacuum pump;
• j) pumping out at least a portion of the interlock chamber (1) by means of an interlock pump (9);
• and
• k) operationally connecting the interlock pump (9) to the turbo vacuum pump (13) to act as the forevacuum pump (15) with a ratio of the interlock chamber volume to be pumped to a volume to be pumped by means of the turbo vacuum pump (13) being maximally 1:40.