Patent ID: 7015146

Claim:
A method of processing a backside of a semiconductor device comprising: providing a processing chamber having a rotating, tilting stage; providing a semiconductor having at a back side thereof a substrate layer over an insulator layer, said insulator layer having a plurality of semiconductor features therein; positioning said semiconductor on said rotating, tilting stage within said processing chamber; forming a window extending into said substrate layer at said back side of said semiconductor within said processing chamber; generating a collimated ion plasma within said processing chamber; providing a shield having an opening in said processing chamber between said collimated ion plasma and said semiconductor; focusing said collimated ion plasma so as to contact said semiconductor only within said window by passing said collimated ion plasma through said opening in said shield; contacting said semiconductor in said window with said focused collimated ion plasma while simultaneously rotating and tilting said semiconductor on said stage to uniformly remove remaining substrate layer and said insulator layer within said window and expose selected ones of said plurality of semiconductor features for a subsequent processing step.