VACUUM PROCESSING APPARATUS AND VACUUM PROCESSING METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method which allow for efficient transfer of a substrate, while preventing a substrate from being left in a processing chamber for a long time after finishing the processing.SOLUTION: When transfer of a substrate, to be processed next, from a substrate housing tool is started, a control unit sets to transfer the substrate to a processing chamber having a shortest remaining processing time, out of a plurality of processing chambers. When the processing chamber having a shortest remaining processing time requires maintenance, the processing chamber as transfer destination is changed to a processing chamber having the next to shortest remaining processing time, for transferring the substrate.