The invention relates to devices intended for treatment of materials in gas discharge plasma of low temperature, namely the induction plasma generator, placed inside the process volume (working chamber). The technical problem to be solved by the proposed invention is to increase the efficiency of the device; to improve the reliability of the device, increase purity of plasma environment and increase density of plasma generated; increase the life of device; reduce the level of noise; reduce the size of the device.

A proximity-electrode for a charged particle beam device is provided, the proximity-electrode including a body having an aperture within the body, and the body having a plurality of protrusions cantilevering radially into the aperture, and the aperture and the protrusions having an n-fold rotational symmetry, where n is an integer.

Provided is a substrate processing apparatus. The positions of a first electrode and a second electrode are adjusted in advance in consideration of differences in coefficients of thermal expansion so that a short circuit created by contact between the first electrode and the second electrode is prevented even in the case in which the first electrode and the second electrode are thermally expanded during processing. Even in the case in which the first electrode and the second electrode are thermally expanded due to an increase in temperature during processing, a short circuit between the first electrode and the second electrode can be prevented, and the uniformity of a thin film can be maintained in the substrate processing apparatus for processing a large substrate.

A tunable plasma exclusion zone in semiconductor fabrication is provided. A semiconductor wafer is provided within a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus between a first plasma electrode and a second plasma electrode. A plasma is generated from a process gas within the chamber and an electric field between the first plasma electrode and the second plasma electrode. The plasma is at least partially excluded from an edge region of the semiconductor wafer by a plasma exclusion zone (PEZ) ring within the chamber. The plasma may be tuned toward a center of the semiconductor wafer by electrically coupling an electrode ring of the PEZ ring to a voltage potential.

A spacer element is for an interface assembly comprising an orifice element defining an orifice for passing plasma from a plasma source and a cooling element for cooling the orifice element. The spacer element comprises an electrically isolating body configured to be inserted between the orifice element and the cooling element. The electrically isolating body is provided with an opening. An electrically conductive layer is provided on the electrically isolating body to face the orifice element.

An object of the present disclosure is to obtain an active gas generation apparatus capable of supplying a highly concentrated active gas from a gas ejection port to a processing space at a subsequent stage. Then, in the active gas generation apparatus (51) of the present disclosure, in a main dielectric space being a space in which an electrode dielectric film (30) and an electrode dielectric film (40) face each other, a region where electrode conductive films (31) and (41) overlap each other in a plan view is defined as a main discharge space (50). In an auxiliary dielectric space being a space where the electrode dielectric film 30 and a shield dielectric film 8 face each other, a region including a dielectric through hole (14) and a cover through hole (15) is defined as an auxiliary discharge space (58). The auxiliary discharge space (58) includes a part of a buffer space (9) above the shield dielectric film (8), and a path leading from the auxiliary discharge space (58) to the gas ejection port (61.62) is defined as an active gas flow path.

A charged particle-optical assembly manipulates one or more charged particle beams. The assembly includes: an upbeam element, a downbeam element and an isolating spacer. The upbeam and down beam elements each include a plate having one or more apertures around a beam path of one or more charged particle beams. The spacer is for electrically isolating the upbeam element and the element from each other. The spacer defines a spacer aperture around the beam path of the one or more charged particle beams. The spacer includes an upbeam portion adjacent to the upbeam element, a downbeam portion adjacent to the downbeam element and an intermediate portion between the upbeam and downbeam portions. The upbeam portion and the downbeam portion protrude relative to the intermediate portion so the spacer aperture has an increased dimension at the intermediate portion compared to the upbeam and downbeam portions.