Patent ID: 7771561

Claim:
A substrate surface treatment method for removing deposits from an electrode, wherein the electrode is disposed on a circuit board arranged in a reaction chamber, and wherein the deposits on the electrode are removed by ions in plasma generated in the reaction chamber, such that the electrode and the circuit board are simultaneously exposed to the same plasma the method comprising: detecting, during the removing of the deposits from the electrode, if a corrosive element as a component of the circuit board is separated from the circuit board by the plasma; and decreasing electric power supplied to the reaction chamber to suppress separation of the corrosive element when the separation of the corrosive element from the circuit board is detected in said detecting, or/and increasing a pressure in the reaction chamber to suppress separation of the corrosive element when the separation of the corrosive element from the circuit board is detected in said detecting, wherein the removing of the deposits from the electrode is continually performed until removal of the deposits from the electrode is complete.