Patent ID: 8518284

Claim:
A plasma treatment apparatus comprising: a vacuum chamber; a substrate holder for a substrate to be treated; a remote plasma source; wherein said remote plasma source comprises: a first plate-like, two-dimensionally extending, electrically conductive electrode; a second two-dimensionally extending, electrically conductive electrode; said first and said second electrodes being substantially parallel and mutually electrically DC-isolated; said first and said second electrodes being operationally connected to an electrical Rf generator generating an Rf signal at a predetermined frequency and with a predetermined power; said first electrode having a surface freely exposed to said substrate holder and having a back surface, and further comprising a pattern of through-openings distributed along the first electrode's surface extent; said second electrode having a surface exposed to said back surface of said first electrode and spaced therefrom by a distance thereby defining an interspace between said back surface of said first electrode and said exposed surface of said second electrode; a pattern of gas inlet openings abutting said interspace and positioned to fill the interspace with gas input from the gas inlet openings; said through-openings in the first electrode being dimensioned to establish a plurality of localized plasma discharges distributed along the first electrode within said through-openings at said predetermined Rf frequency, at said predetermined power and at a predetermined gas pressure; said distance between the first and second electrodes being such that plasma generation in said interspace is substantially prevented at that said predetermined Rf frequency, said predetermined power and said predetermined gas pressure in said interspace.