Patent ID: 8323521

Claim:
A method for processing a substrate using a Gravity-Induced Gas-Diffusion Separation-Controlled (GIGDSC) plasma processing subsystem, the method comprising: positioning a substrate on a substrate holder in a lower portion of a process chamber configured to perform a GIGDSC procedure; creating a first light-gas stabilization plasma in a plasma generation space in an upper portion of the process chamber during a first pre-processing time using a light plasma generation gas; determining a first light gas stabilization value during the first pre-processing time; comparing the first light gas stabilization value to first stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; performing at least one corrective action to improve the first light gas stabilization value when the first light gas stabilization value exceeds one or more of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time; and creating a second light-gas stabilization plasma and an initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma during a second pre-processing time when the first light gas stabilization value does not exceed at least one of the stabilization limits during the first pre-processing time, wherein the initial heavy-gas pre-processing plasma is created using at least one heavy process gas in a plasma processing space proximate the substrate.