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An inline vacuum processing apparatus includes a deposition unit, a process execution unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The deposition unit causes one deposition chamber of a first deposition chamber and a second deposition chamber to execute a deposition process. The process execution

An inline vacuum processing apparatus includes a deposition unit, a process execution unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The deposition unit causes one deposition chamber of a first deposition chamber and a second deposition chamber to execute a deposition process. The process execution unit causes the other deposition chamber to execute a process necessary for the deposition process. The determination unit measures the number of substrates processed in one deposition chamber and determines whether all substrates included in a first lot have undergone the deposition process. The control unit switches, based on a determination result from the determination unit, a process to be executed in each of the first deposition chamber and the second deposition chamber.

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1. An inline vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a first deposition chamber and a second deposition chamber which are capable of performing any of a CVD process, an ashing process, and a pre-deposition process,a substrate transportation apparatus which transports, in only one direction, a subst

1. An inline vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a first deposition chamber and a second deposition chamber which are capable of performing any of a CVD process, an ashing process, and a pre-deposition process,a substrate transportation apparatus which transports, in only one direction, a substrate into said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,a control unit configured to select one of the CVD process, the ashing process, and the pre-deposition process to be selectively performed in said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,wherein said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber are connected in series along a direction in which the substrate is transported by the substrate transportation apparatus,wherein said control unit selects one of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber as the deposition chamber to be used for the CVD process of the substrate for a consecutive predetermined number of times, andsaid control unit selects, in a state where the substrate does not exist in the other of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber, one of the ashing process and the pre-deposition process as a process to be performed in the other of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber while the CVD process is performed consecutively in said one deposition chamber of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,wherein in a case where the one deposition chamber is connected to an upstream side of the other deposition chamber, said control unit controls transportation of the substrate so that the substrate on which the CVD process has been executed in the one deposition chamber passes through the other deposition chamber and is transported directly from the one deposition chamber, through the other deposition chamber, to a chamber, connected in series to a downstream side of the other deposition chamber, to execute a post-process of the CVD process, during the transportation of the substrate in the other deposition chamber, the pre-deposition process or the ashing process in the other deposition chamber is interrupted. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ashing process and the pre-deposition process are selected the predetermined number of times in total as the processes to be performed in said other deposition chamber while the CVD process is performed consecutively the predetermined number of times in said one deposition chamber of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber, andthe ashing process is selected a first number of times of the predetermined number of times, and the pre-deposition process is selected a second number of times. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate cassette which is loaded/unloaded into/from the inline vacuum processing apparatus while keeping the substrate mounted, wherein the predetermined number of times equals the number of substrates mountable on said substrate cassette, andsaid control unit selects only said one deposition chamber of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber as the deposition chamber to be used for the CVD process of the predetermined number of substrates mounted on one substrate cassette. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge voltage measuring unit configured to measure a discharge voltage in the deposition chamber during execution of the ashing process, wherein said control unit determines, based on a measurement result from said discharge voltage measuring unit, whether the ashing process has ended. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the one of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber has been used as the deposition chamber for the CVD process of the substrate for the predetermined number of times, the control unit then selects the other of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber as the deposition chamber to be used for the CVD process of the substrate consecutively for the predetermined number of times; andthe control unit selects, in a state where the substrate does not exist in the one of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber, one of the ashing process and the pre-deposition process as a process to be performed in the one of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber while the CVD process is performed consecutively in said other deposition chamber of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first deposition chamber and the second deposition chamber are connected directly to each other so that a substrate can pass directly from the first deposition chamber into the second deposition chamber without having to be removed from both of the first deposition chamber and the second deposition chamber. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first deposition chamber, the second deposition chamber, and the chamber connected in series to a downstream side of the other deposition chamber are connected directly to each other so that a substrate can pass directly through the three chambers without having to be removed from the three chambers. 8. An inline vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a first deposition chamber and a second deposition chamber which are capable of performing any of a CVD process, an ashing process, and a pre-deposition process,a substrate transportation apparatus which transports, in only one direction, a substrate into said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,a control unit configured to select one of the CVD process, the ashing process, and the pre-deposition process to be selectively performed in said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,wherein said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber are connected in series along a direction in which the substrate is transported by the substrate transportation apparatus,wherein said control unit selects one of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber as the deposition chamber to be used for the CVD process of the substrate for a consecutive predetermined number of times, andsaid control unit selects, in a state where the substrate does not exist in the other of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber, one of the ashing process and the pre-deposition process as a process to be performed in the other of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber while the CVD process is performed consecutively in said one deposition chamber of said first deposition chamber and said second deposition chamber,wherein in a case where the one deposition chamber is connected to a downstream side of the other deposition chamber, said control unit controls transportation of the substrate so that the substrate passes through the other deposition chamber connected in series to an upstream side of the one deposition chamber, and is transported directly from a chamber connected in series to an upstream side of the other deposition chamber to the one deposition chamber, during the transportation of the substrate in the other deposition chamber, the pre-deposition process or the ashing process in the other deposition chamber is interrupted.