Patent ID: 7833429
Filing Date: 2010-11-16
Classification: C23C,H01J,H01L

Abstract:
1. A plasma processing method of a plasma processing apparatus which processes a sample inside of a vacuum processing chamber using a plasma generated therein, the plasma processing apparatus including: a gas ring forming a portion of the vacuum processing chamber and having a blowing port for a processing gas; a bell jar covering a portion above the gas ring to define the vacuum processing chamber; an antenna, disposed above the bell jar, for supplying an RF electric field into the vacuum processing chamber to generate the plasma inside of the vacuum processing chamber; a sample table on which the sample is located; a Faraday shield disposed between the antenna and the bell jar and applied with an RF bias voltage; and an RF power source circuit for supplying a power source voltage to the antenna and the Faraday shield; the RF power source circuit comprising an RF power source, an antenna connected with the RF power source, a resonance circuit connected in series with the antenna and supplying a resonance voltage thereof as the RF bias voltage to the Faraday shield, a detection circuit for detecting the resonance voltage of the resonance circuit, and a comparator circuit for comparing the resonance voltage detected by the detection circuit with a predetermined set value; the plasma processing method comprising the steps of: locating the sample on the sample table; supplying the process gas into the vacuum processing chamber from the blowing port; generating the plasma by effecting the electric field provided from the antenna to the processing gas, the electric field being generated by RF power from the RF power source through the RF power source circuit; and adjusting the RF bias voltage supplied to the Faraday shield based on the result of comparison by the comparator circuit during the generation of the plasma.