Patent ID: 8197636

Claim:
An apparatus for processing multiple substrates, comprising: a loadlock chamber; a transfer chamber coupled to the loadlock chamber; and one or more twin process chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each twin process chamber defines a plurality of separate processing regions, and each processing region comprises: a substrate support having a substrate support surface; a gas delivery assembly comprising a gas bowl, wherein the gas bowl comprises: an outer wall; an inner wall; and a bottom facing the substrate support surface, wherein the outer wall, the inner wall and the bottom form a first plenum connected to a first entry port, a plurality of slits are formed through a peripheral region of the bottom connecting the first plenum to the processing region, the inner wall and a perforated portion of the bottom form a second plenum surrounded by the first plenum and connected to a second entry port, and a plurality of apertures formed through the perforated portion of the bottom connect the second plenum to the processing region; and a plasma generator comprising an electrode coupled to a radio frequency power source, wherein the electrode is sandwiched in insulator materials and has an end positioned proximate to a periphery region of the substrate support surface, and the electrode is configured to strike a plasma in a processing gas from the first plenum near the peripheral region of the substrate support surface.