Wafer processing based on sensor detection and system learning

A vacuum processing apparatus comprising:

• a vacuum container having a processing chamber and a specimen holder installed in the processing chamber, the processing chamber having its interior depressurized to process a wafer as an object to be processed, the specimen holder being adapted to hold the wafer on an upper surface thereof by an electrostatic attraction;
• a vacuum transfer chamber which is depressurized and connected to the vacuum container, the wafer being transferred to the processing chamber from an interior space of the vacuum transfer chamber or transferred into the interior space of the vacuum transfer chamber from the processing chamber;
• a robot which is installed in the vacuum transfer chamber to transfer the wafer on one of two arms thereof to or from the specimen holder in the processing chamber;
• a unit which detects an amount of deviation of the wafer from a predetermined wafer mounting position on the arm that may occur when the robot transfers the wafer into or out of the processing chamber;
• and
• an adjusting device which adjusts an operation of the robot based on the detected amount of deviation;
• wherein the adjusting device adjusts the robot operation based on the result of an initial teaching operation that relates information from sensors representing detected positions of the arms to actual positions of the arms, and
• wherein, after being subjected to the initial teaching operation, the robot undergoes a second teaching operation before processing the wafer, in the second teaching operation, an amount of wafer position deviation being detected during a wafer transfer operation in each of predetermined plural patterns which include a first pattern of transferring the wafer into or out of the processing chamber using only one of the arms and a second pattern of transferring the wafer into or out of the processing chamber using the two arms, and
• the information from the sensors in the initial teaching operation is adjusted such that the amount of wafer position deviations in the first pattern and the second pattern can be matched.