Patent ID: 8377254

Claim:
A plasma processing apparatus comprising: a process container configured to be vacuum-exhausted, the process container including a container casing that defines a surrounding sidewall with a top opening and a dielectric transmission plate supported by the container casing and airtightly closing the top opening; a worktable configured to place a target object thereon inside the process container; an antenna disposed above the transmission plate and configured to supply electromagnetic waves through the transmission plate into the process container; and a gas feed system configured to supply a plasma exciting gas into the process container, wherein the container casing includes an upper plate including an annular support portion formed thereon and extending inward such that the annular support portion defines the top opening and supports the transmission plate thereon, a first housing disposed below the upper plate and surrounding the worktable, and a second housing detachably interposed between the first housing and the upper plate and supporting the upper plate, such that an upper side of the second housing engages with a lower side of the upper plate at an upper interface, and a lower side of the second housing engages with an upper side of the first housing at a lower interface, which is present at a position in height between the workable and the transmission plate, to define the surrounding sidewall of the container casing in an airtight state, wherein the gas feed system includes a plurality of lower passages formed in the first housing and extending upward from a lower side of the first housing to the upper side of the first housing to supply the plasma exciting gas from a gas supply unit disposed outside the process container, a plurality of gas inlets opened directly below the upper plate to a space inside the process container and a plurality of upper passages extending upward from the lower side of the second housing to the gas inlets to supply the plasma exciting gas, the gas inlets and the upper passages being formed in the second housing at a plurality of positions, and a common annular passage formed by a combination of the first and second housing at the lower interface and connected to the lower passages and the upper passages to uniformly distribute the plasma exciting gas to the gas inlets, and, wherein a ring seal member is interposed between the first and second housing at an inward side relative to the common annular passage, and the second housing includes an annular projecting portion formed thereon at an inner lower end and extending downward, such that the projecting portion covers the lower interface from inside to prevent plasma generated inside the process container from directly acting on the ring seal member.