Patent ID: 7846293
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
1. A plasma processing apparatus comprising: a process chamber configured to reduce a pressure therein; a worktable disposed in the process chamber, comprising a lower electrode, and configured to place a target substrate thereon in an essentially horizontal state; an upper electrode disposed in parallel with the lower electrode with a gap therebetween inside the process chamber such that a plasma generation space is defined within a space surrounded by the upper electrode, the lower electrode, and a sidewall of the process chamber, and the plasma generation space includes an outer plasma region and an inner plasma region respectively located outside and inside an outer edge of the lower electrode; a process gas supply section configured to supply a process gas into the plasma generation space; an electric field forming mechanism configured to apply an RF power across the upper electrode and the lower electrode so as to form an RF electric field within the plasma generation space; and a magnetic field forming mechanism configured to form a magnetic field within the outer plasma region, wherein the magnetic field forming mechanism includes a plurality of sets of a start magnet and an end magnet respectively formed of permanent magnets such that the plurality of sets are arrayed at intervals entirely in an annular direction directly above the outer plasma region, and the start magnet and the end magnet of each of the sets are disposed at an interval in a radial direction outside the outer edge of the lower electrode and respectively provide an N-pole and an S-pole directed downward such that magnetic force lines from the N-pole to the S-pole make U-turns extending through the outer plasma region without entering either the inner plasma region or the lower electrode, and wherein one of the start magnet and the end magnet located on an outer side in the radial direction has a larger magnetic quantity than the other located on the inner side.