Patent ID: 7225754

Claim:
An inspection method for a plasma processing apparatus including a plurality of plasma processing units, each of the plurality of plasma processing units comprising: a plasma processing chamber including an electrode to excite a plasma; a radiofrequency generator to supply radiofrequency power to the electrode; and a matching circuit to match impedances of the plasma processing chamber and the radiofrequency generator, the matching circuit having an input terminal connected to the radiofrequency generator, an output terminal connected to the electrode, and a connection point provided between the input terminal and the output terminal, the matching circuit being connected to a ground potential portion via the connection point, the method comprising: inspecting whether a variation <RA> among the plurality of plasma processing units defined by a first equation below is within a first predetermined range: < RA> =( RA max −RA min )/( RA max +RA min ) where RA max and RA min are maximum and minimum values, respectively, of AC resistances RA in the matching circuits of the plurality of plasma processing units measured from an input-terminal-side of the matching circuits; and inspecting whether a variation <RB> among the plurality of plasma processing units defined by a second equation below is within a second predetermined range: < RB> =( RB max −RB min )/( RB max +RB min ) where RB max and RB min are maximum and minimum values, respectively, of AC resistances RB in the matching circuits of the plurality of plasma processing units measured from an output-terminal-side of the matching circuits.