An active gas generation apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a base flange having a central bottom surface region and a peripheral protruding part; a cooling plate provided on the peripheral protruding part of the base flange; an insulating plate provided between the cooling plate and the high voltage apply electrode part; and an electrode holding member provided on a lower surface of the cooling plate to support the high voltage apply electrode part from a lower side. Provided is a gas separation structure of separating a gas flow between an in-housing space and a discharge space by the cooling plate, the electrode holding member, and the high voltage apply electrode part.

A capacitive element using a liquid as a dielectric, whereby the capacitance is prevented from changing. The capacitive element is equipped with: a storage container that has an inlet port for introducing a liquid serving as a dielectric, has an outlet port for discharging the liquid, and is filled with the liquid; and at least one pair of electrodes that are provided in the storage container and face each other, wherein an opening section for exhausting air bubbles in the storage container is formed in an upper wall of the storage container.

The plasma processing method according to the present disclosure is performed in a plasma processing apparatus. The plasma processing method comprises preparing a substrate including a silicon-containing film and a carbon-containing film formed on the silicon-containing film; setting a temperature of the substrate to a first temperature of 0° C. or less; supplying H.sub.2O to the substrate using a first processing gas containing comprising at least one of (a) gas comprising hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms, and (b) a first gas comprising hydrogen atoms and a second gas comprising oxygen atoms; forming plasma from the first processing gas using a radio frequency and etching the carbon-containing film; setting the temperature of the substrate to a second temperature different from the first temperature; supplying a second processing gas containing a hydrogen- and fluorine-containing gas or both a hydrogen-containing gas and a fluorine-containing gas to the substrate; and forming plasma from the second processing gas using a radio frequency and etching the silicon-containing film.

A capacitively coupled plasma substrate processing apparatus includes: a process chamber which is exhausted to vacuum and provides a sealed internal space; a gas inflow pipe which is connected to the process chamber to provide a process gas into the process chamber; a gas distribution unit which is connected to the gas inflow pipe to inject the process gas flowing into the gas inflow pipe in the internal space; an impedance matching network which is disposed outside the process chamber and transfers an RF power of an RF power supply to the gas distribution unit; an RF connection line which connects an output of the impedance matching network to the gas inflow pipe or the gas distribution unit; and a shielding plate which is configured such that at least one of the RF connection line and the gas inflow pipe penetrates the shielding plate and includes a ferromagnetic material.

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to an improved substrate support pedestal assembly. In one implementation, the substrate support pedestal assembly includes a shaft. The substrate support pedestal assembly further includes a substrate support pedestal, mechanically coupled to the shaft. The substrate support pedestal comprises substrate support plate coated on a top surface with a ceramic material.

An electrostatic chuck assembly includes a ceramic body having a wafer placement surface that is a circular surface, and an F/R placement surface that is formed around the wafer placement surface and is positioned at a lower level than the wafer placement surface, a wafer attraction electrode embedded inside the ceramic body and positioned in a facing relation to the wafer placement surface, an F/R attraction electrode embedded inside the ceramic body and positioned in a facing relation to the F/R placement surface, a concave-convex region formed in the F/R placement surface to hold gas, a focus ring placed on the F/R placement surface, and a pair of elastic annular sealing members arranged between the F/R placement surface and the focus ring on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the F/R placement surface, and surrounding the concave-convex region in a sandwiching relation.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a process tool that includes a chamber housing defined by a processing chamber, and a wafer chuck structure arranged within the processing chamber. The wafer chuck structure is configured to hold a wafer during a fabrication process. The wafer chuck includes a lower portion and an upper portion arranged over the lower portion. The lower portion includes trenches extending from a topmost surface towards a bottommost surface of the lower portion. The upper portion includes openings that are holes, extend completely through the upper portion, and directly overlie the trenches of the lower portion. Multiple of the openings directly overlie each trench. Further, cooling gas piping is coupled to the trenches of the lower portion of the wafer chuck structure, and a cooling gas source is coupled to the cooling gas piping.

An atmospheric pressure plasma processing apparatus and method employing argon as a plasma gas in the absence of helium, including nanosecond pulse-powered electrodes having planar surfaces, and grounded electrodes having planar surfaces parallel to the surfaces of the powered electrodes and spaced-apart a chosen distance therefrom, forming plasma regions, are described. The absence of helium from the plasma discharge has been found not to affect the quality of the resulting plasma-polymerized coatings of the processed substrates.

A substrate processing system for selectively etching a layer on a substrate includes an upper chamber region, an inductive coil arranged around the upper chamber region and a lower chamber region including a substrate support to support a substrate. A gas distribution device is arranged between the upper chamber region and the lower chamber region and includes a plate with a plurality of holes. A cooling plenum cools the gas distribution device and a purge gas plenum directs purge gas into the lower chamber. A surface to volume ratio of the holes is greater than or equal to 4. A controller selectively supplies an etch gas mixture to the upper chamber and a purge gas to the purge gas plenum and strikes plasma in the upper chamber to selectively etch a layer of the substrate relative to at least one other exposed layer of the substrate.

An adapter for a deposition chamber includes an adapter body extending longitudinally about a central axis between an upper side and lower side opposite the upper side. The adapter body has a central opening about the central axis. The adapter body has a radially outer portion having a connection surface on the lower side and a radially inner portion having a coolant channel and a stepped surface on the lower side. At least a portion of the coolant channel is spaced radially inwardly from a radially inner end of the connection surface. At least the portion of the coolant channel is disposed longitudinally below the connection surface between the connection surface and the stepped surface.