Patent ID: 8021515

Claim:
An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus comprising: a plasma chamber with a field admission aperture and a dielectric window forming a self-supporting wall element of said plasma chamber that is closing and sealing in a gastight manner said field admission aperture, said dielectric window having an external and an internal side with respect to said chamber; and an electromagnetic field source arranged in front of said external side of said dielectric window for generating an electromagnetic field within said plasma chamber, said field source comprising a plurality of separate magnetic cores; at least one separator of dielectric material wherein said magnetic cores are arranged on the external side of said dielectric window with adjacent side faces or with said at least one separator separator of dielectric material arranged between two magnetic cores, such that said arrangement covers said dielectric window, and each of said magnetic cores and separators is attached to said external side of said dielectric window by means of a thin layer of bonding agent, such that they help said dielectric window to withstand collapsing forces caused by negative pressure inside said chamber during operation.