Patent ID: 8394200

Claim:
A vertical plasma processing apparatus for a semiconductor process, the apparatus comprising: a process container having a process field configured to accommodate a plurality of target substrates at intervals in a vertical direction, a bottom end of the process container including a load port for loading and unloading the target substrates and a flange disposed around the load port, the process container and the flange consisting essentially of an insulative material and formed integrally with each other; a support member configured to support the target substrates inside the process field and to be loaded and unloaded to and from the process container through the load port along with the target substrates supported on the support member; a lid configured to close the load port through contact with the flange; an exhaust system configured to exhaust gas from the process field; an airtight auxiliary chamber defined by a casing projected from a side of the process container and consisting essentially of the insulative material, the auxiliary chamber including a plasma generation area extending over a length corresponding to the process field in a vertical direction; an electric field generation mechanism provided to the process container and configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) electric field at the plasma generation area; a gas passage located between the process field and the plasma generation area and disposed over a length corresponding to the process field in a vertical direction; and a process gas supply system configured to supply a process gas into the auxiliary chamber, such that the process gas is excited while passing through the plasma generation area, and is then supplied through the gas passage to the process field, the process gas supply system including a nozzle configured to supply the process gas into the auxiliary chamber, the nozzle extending in a vertical direction within the auxiliary chamber and including a plurality of gas spouting holes arrayed at intervals in a vertical direction over the process field, wherein an auxiliary insertion pipe consisting essentially of the insulative material is airtightly connected by welding between the casing of the auxiliary chamber and the flange, a lower end of the nozzle is connected to a gas head horizontally larger than the nozzle, and the flange has an insertion recess communicating with the auxiliary insertion pipe and configured to accommodate the gas head such that the insertion recess engages with the gas head to locate the gas head, the nozzle is inserted from below the flange through the insertion recess and the auxiliary insertion pipe into the auxiliary chamber, and the gas head is fixed in the insertion recess from below by a fixing device.