Patent ID: 7415940

Claim:
A plasma processing apparatus comprising a lower electrode arranged in a hermetic process chamber and having a support surface for placing a target object thereon, an upper electrode arranged in the hermetic process chamber and opposing the support surface of said lower electrode, electric field generating means coupled to the upper electrode for generating an RF field in the hermetic process chamber, a first filter connected between the said lower electrode and ground and having variable circuit characteristics, a sensor provided on said lower electrode side and which detects at least one of voltage impressed upon said first filter and current flowed to said first filter such that when the reactance of the first filter is changed the impedance of a first path extending from the upper electrode to the ground through the lower electrode and the filter can be adjusted as per state of the plasma, and control means operatively configured to control the circuit characteristics of said first filter on the basis of a detection result output from said sensor, wherein said control means has a switch that performs switching operation between a first control mode of maximizing the plasma distributed in a region opposing the support surface of said lower electrode and a second control mode of maximizing the plasma reaching an inner wall surface of said process chamber, in a multilevel manner or arbitrarily.