Patent ID: 8361275

Claim:
An etching apparatus for performing etching an etching target film of a substrate by using a processing gas which is a gaseous mixture including a first gas containing halogen and carbon and having a carbon number of two or less per molecule and a second gas containing halogen and carbon and having a carbon number of three or more per molecule, the etching apparatus comprising: a processing chamber in which a susceptor for mounting the substrate thereon is disposed; a gas supply unit, disposed in the processing chamber to face the susceptor, for supplying the processing gas, the gas supply unit having a gas supply surface facing the susceptor; a first gas introduction line connected to a central portion of the gas supply unit for supplying the processing gas to the central portion of the gas supply unit; a second gas introduction line connected to a peripheral portion of the gas supply unit for supplying the processing gas to the peripheral portion of the gas supply unit; a first flow rate control unit disposed at the first gas introduction line; a second flow rate control unit disposed at the second gas introduction line; means for controlling a pressure inside the processing chamber; means for generating a plasma in the processing chamber; and a controller for controlling the supply of the processing gas, wherein the gas supply unit comprises a first gas introduction chamber for supplying the processing gas to a central part of the substrate and a second gas introduction chamber for supplying the processing gas to a peripheral part of the substrate, wherein the controller is programmed to control a first processing gas produced by mixing the first gas with the second gas at a first mixing ratio to be supplied to the first gas introduction chamber and a second processing gas produced by mixing the first gas with the second gas at a second mixing ratio to be supplied to the second gas introduction chamber, and a total number of halogen atoms supplied along with the first gas and a total number of halogen atoms supplied along with the second gas are calculated based on the first and second mixing ratios, and if the total number of the halogen atoms supplied along with the first gas is greater than that of the halogen atoms supplied along with the second gas, the processing gas is supplied such that a flow rate of the first processing gas is greater than that of the second processing gas per unit area of the gas supply surface of the gas supply unit, and if the total number of the halogen atoms supplied along with the first gas is smaller than that of the halogen atoms supplied along with the second gas, the processing gas is supplied such that a flow rate of the first processing gas is smaller than that of the second processing gas per unit area of the gas supply surface of the gas supply unit.