Patent ID: 6083363
Filing Date: 2000-07-04
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
An apparatus for processing a surface of a substrate with a plasma formed from a process gas, comprising:a processing chamber defining therein a plasma source region and a plasma processing region located downstream of the source region, the processing region configured to contain a substrate to be processed;an electrical energy source operably coupled to the chamber for directing energy into the source region to form and sustain a plasma therein;an ion directing mechanism positioned between the source region and the processing region, the ion directing mechanism operable, when biased with electrical energy, for extracting ions from the plasma in the source region and directing high-energy extracted ions directly into the processing region for processing a substrate therein;a gas introduction element positioned in the processing region downstream of the plasma source region and downstream of the ion directing mechanism and directly proximate thereto, the gas introduction element operable for dispersing an unexcited process gas into the processing region directly proximate the substrate to intersect paths of the high-energy directed ions and produce a charge exchange between the ions and particles of the process gas directly proximate the substrate for creating a large number of high-energy neutral particles for processing a substrate;whereby a low-damage and directional processing of the substrate is achieved.