A neutral beam annealing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a cylinder shape, a first gas supplier to supply a first gas for forming plasma, a first electrode coupled to an upper surface of the plasma chamber, an induction coil wound around an outer circumference of the plasma chamber to receive a high-frequency voltage from a high-frequency power supply, a second electrode which is coupled to a lower surface of the plasma chamber, and in which through holes are defined, a substrate support supporting a substrate to be annealed and adjusting a vertical distance between the substrate and the second electrode, an annealing chamber accommodating the substrate support, and a pressure controller which supplies a second gas to the annealing chamber.

A plasma processing device includes an upper electrode assembly and a lower electrode assembly. The upper electrode assembly has a plurality of post electrodes, made of a conductive material, protruding individually out of one surface of the upper electrode assembly, and connected to a plasma source. A plasma deficiency area having no post electrode is disposed in a center portion of the upper electrode assembly. The plurality of post electrodes are disposed in a ringlike electrode distribution area surrounding concentrically the plasma deficiency area. The lower electrode assembly is rotatable, made of a conducting material, and covered by a dielectric material.

The present invention introduces a plasma etching method and apparatus. The plasma etching method may include forming a photoresist pattern on a target etching layer, hardening the surface of the photoresist pattern by exposing to a first plasma generated from a first discharge gas containing a reforming gas including carbon (C) and sulfur (S) and sequentially annealing, and etching the target etching layer with a second plasma generated from a second discharge gas using the surface-hardened photoresist pattern as a mask.

A surface modifying method of modifying a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate by plasma of a processing gas includes an adjusting process and a modifying process. In the adjusting process, an amount of moisture in a processing vessel is adjusted by supplying a humidified gas into the processing vessel allowed to accommodate the substrate therein. In the modifying process, the bonding surface of the substrate is modified by forming the plasma of the processing gas in the processing vessel in a state that the amount of moisture in the processing vessel is adjusted.

A surface modifying apparatus is configured to modify a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate by plasma of a processing gas. The surface modifying apparatus includes a processing vessel; a measuring unit; and a controller. The processing vessel is configured to accommodate the substrate therein. The measuring unit is configured to measure a value indicating an amount of moisture in the processing vessel. The controller is configured to determine whether or not bonding strength between the substrate and the another substrate, when it is assumed that the substrate modified in the processing vessel is bonded to the another substrate, is good based on the value indicating the amount of moisture in the processing vessel measured by the measuring unit.

A substrate processing method includes: (a) providing a substrate including a first region containing a first material including silicon and a second region containing a second material different from the first material; (b) etching the second region while forming a metal-containing layer on the first region, by a plasma generated from a processing gas including halogen and metal; (c) removing the metal-containing layer with a base.

Disclosed is a method of processing a substrate. The method may include: a substrate loading operation of loading a substrate into a treating space of a chamber; a film removal operation of removing a film provided on the substrate; a protective film formation operation of forming a protective film containing oxygen on the substrate; and a substrate unloading operation of unloading the substrate from the treating space.

A poling apparatus for poling a polymer thin film formed on a workpiece carried by a workpiece carrier. The workpiece has multiple grounding electrodes, grounding pads located at its edges, and a polymer thin film including multiple areas each covering only one grounding electrode. The poling apparatus includes, in a poling chamber, a poling source generating a plasma, a shadow mask below the poling source, and a Z-elevator to raise the workpiece carrier toward the shadow mask and poling source. When the workpiece in the workpiece carrier is raised to contact the underside of the shadow mask, multiple openings of the shadow mask expose only the corresponding multiple thin film areas of the workpiece to the plasma; meanwhile, conductive grounding terminals on the underside of the shadow mask electrically connect the grounding pads of the workpiece with carrier electrodes on the workpiece carrier, to ground the workpiece.

A system and method for manufacturing a lattice structure of ionized particles on a substrate, wherein the process may be improved by controlling the number of ionized particles that are ejected from an ionizer and directed to a substrate, and wherein the ionized particles are disposed on the substrate, thereby enabling the creation of a lattice structure that may be as thin as a single layer of ionized particles.

Sterilization apparatus comprising a sterilization instrument configured to be inserted through the instrument channel of a surgical scoping device and a withdrawal device for withdrawing the sterilization instrument from the instrument channel at a predetermined rate. The sterilization instrument comprises an elongate probe having a probe tip with a first electrode and a second electrode arranged to produce an electric field from received RF and/or microwave frequency EM energy. In operation the instrument may disinfect an inner surface of the instrument channel by emitting energy while being withdrawn through the channel.