A sputter deposition apparatus including: a remote plasma generation arrangement arranged to provide a plasma for sputter deposition of target material within a sputter deposition zone; a confining arrangement arranged to provide a confining magnetic field to substantially confine the plasma in the sputter deposition zone a substrate provided within the sputter deposition zone; and one or more target support assemblies arranged to support one or more targets in the sputter deposition zone so as to provide for sputter deposition of the target material on the substrate. The confining arrangement confines the remote plasma to the target support assemblies such that in use there is deposited: target material as a first region on the substrate; target material as a second region on the substrate; and an intermediate region between the first and second region with no target material.

Certain examples described herein relate to a sputter deposition apparatus including a guiding member to guide a substrate in a conveyance direction, a plasma source to generate a plasma, and a magnet arrangement. The magnet arrangement is configured to confine the plasma within the apparatus to a pre-treatment zone, within which the substrate is exposed to the plasma in use. The magnet arrangement is also configured to confine the plasma within the apparatus to a sputter deposition zone, located after the pre-treatment zone in the conveyance direction, to provide for sputter deposition of a target material to the substrate in use. The pre-treatment and sputter deposition zones are disposed about the guiding member.

There is provided a plasma processing apparatus comprising: a plasma processing chamber having an upper wall, a sidewall, and a lower wall and having therein a plasma processing space; and a magnetic shield disposed around an outer side of the sidewall and having an opening at an upper side thereof. On the assumption that an angle between a line that passes through a midpoint of an inner surface of the upper wall on the plasma processing space side and connects end points of the opening and the inner surface is θ[°] and a product μi×t of an initial relative permeability pi of a magnetic material forming the magnetic shield and a thickness t[m] of the magnetic shield is Pmc[m], the angle θ[°] satisfies a condition θ>764×Pmc.sup.−2+179×Pmc.sup.−1+21.3.

A plasma processing device includes an inductively coupled plasma antenna including an input end and an output end, a series circuit including an additional inductor and a variable capacitor connected in series, and a controller that varies a capacitance of the variable capacitor. The input terminal is connected via an antenna matching device to an antenna power supply. The output terminal is connected to the additional inductor. The additional inductor is connected via the variable capacitor to ground.

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for processing a substrate using an inductively coupled plasma source. An inductively coupled plasma source utilizes a power source, a shield member, and a coil coupled to the power source. In certain embodiments, the coils are arranged with a horizontal spiral grouping and a vertical extending helical grouping. The shield member, according to certain embodiments, utilizes a grounding member to function as a Faraday shield. The embodiments herein reduce parasitic losses and instabilities in the plasma created by the inductively coupled plasma in the substrate processing system.

An inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) generation system may include a dielectric tube, a first inductive coil structure to enclose the dielectric tube, an RF power supply, a first main capacitor between a positive output terminal of the RF power supply and one end of the first inductive coil structure, and a second main capacitor between a negative output terminal of the RF power supply and an opposite end of the first inductive coil structure. The first inductive coil structure may include inductive coils connected in series to each other and placed at different layers, the inductive coils having at least one turn at each layer, and auxiliary capacitors, which are respectively provided between adjacent ones of the inductive coils to distribute a voltage applied to the inductive coils.

In a plasma processing method, a substrate is loaded onto a lower electrode within a chamber. A plasma power is applied to form plasma within the chamber. A voltage function of a nonsinusoidal wave having a DC pulse portion and a ramp portion is generated. Generating the voltage function may include setting a slope of the ramp portion and setting a duration ratio of the ramp portion to a cycle of the voltage function in order to control an ion energy distribution generated at a surface of the substrate. A bias power of the nonsinusoidal wave is applied to the lower electrode.

A plasma source array is provided. The plasma source array includes a plurality of hybrid plasma sourcelets disposed on a base plate. Each hybrid sourcelet includes a dielectric tube having an inner area and an outer surface; an inductively coupled plasma source for generating a inductively coupled plasma disposed proximate to the outer surface of the dielectric tube; a capacitively coupled plasma source for generating a capacitively coupled plasma disposed within the inner area of the dielectric tube; and a gas injection system configured to supply one or more process gases to the inner area of the dielectric tube. Plasma processing apparatuses incorporating the plasma source array and methods of use are also provided.

The present invention provides a plasma processing device including a vacuum container that has controllable internal pressure, gas supply means, an electrode that is provided in the vacuum container and has an upper surface on which a substrate is placed, and an antenna that is arranged to face the electrode to form inductive coupling, in which the antenna that is configured to form the inductive coupling includes one end connected to a high-frequency power source via a matching circuit, and the other end that is an open end, a length of the antenna is less than ½λ of a wavelength (λ) of an RF frequency, an impedance adjustment circuit connected in parallel to the antenna is connected to an RF feeding side of the antenna, and a reactance component of a combined impedance by the impedance adjustment circuit is adjustable from a capacitive load to an inductive load with respect to the RF frequency supplied to the antenna.

This disclosure relates to a plasma processing system for VHF plasma processing using a transmission antenna designed to enable a resonant VHF standing wave inside a plasma process chamber used to manufacture semiconductor devices. The system includes a transmission element capable of being electromagnetically coupled to incoming power lines connected to a power source. The transmission element, power transmission lines, and power source form a resonant circuit capable of enabling a VHF standing wave on the transmission element. The transmission element is folded back on itself to reduce the footprint of the antenna, such that the transmission element(s) can be located inside the plasma process chamber. The transmission antenna has three portions, with the first being electromagnetically coupled to the power transmission line, the second being coupled to plasma, and the third being a folded portion that reduces the transmission element's footprint.