Patent ID: 7887669

Claim:
A plasma processing apparatus for processing a wafer mounted on a sample stage placed in a vacuum processing chamber using a plasma generated in the vacuum processing chamber, the plasma processing apparatus comprising: a plate disposed in the vacuum processing chamber above and opposed to the wafer, the plate having a through hole through which a first processing gas is introduced; a generally band shaped gap disposed in the vacuum processing chamber; and a gas channel which is disposed circumferentially outside of the vacuum processing chamber and communicated with the gap, wherein a second processing gas is supplied inside the gas channel, at least one hole or slit disposed between the gas channel and the gap for communicating the gas channel with the gap, wherein the gas channel is disposed inside of a ring-shaped member communicated with the gap through the at least one hole or slit provided in an inner peripheral wall of the ring-shaped member wherein a first portion of the gap is defined between the inner peripheral wall of the ring-shaped member and a first cylindrical portion of an outer peripheral surface of a ring cover facing and spaced from the inner peripheral wall of the ring-shaped member, and a second portion of the gap is defined between an inner surface of a wall of the vacuum processing chamber and a second portion of the outer peripheral surface of the ring cover facing and spaced from the inner surface of a wall of the vacuum processing chamber wherein a height of the gap is configured to be larger than a height or diameter of the hole or slit, and the wafer is processed while the first processing gas and the second processing gas having different compositions are supplied into the vacuum processing chamber.