Provided is a mounting stage on which a substrate to be subjected to a plasma process is mounted. The mounting stage includes: an electrostatic chuck configured to attract the substrate and an edge ring disposed around the substrate; and supply holes through which a heat medium is supplied to a space between the electrostatic chuck and the edge ring. A groove is provided in at least one of the edge ring and the mounting stage, and the groove is not in communication with the supply holes.

The present invention provides a stage which comprises: a plate-shaped member having a mounting surface on which a workpiece to be processed is mounted and a rear surface facing the mounting surface, said plate-shaped member being provided with a through hole that penetrates through the mounting surface and the rear surface; and an embedded member disposed inside the through hole. This stage is configured such that the surface of the embedded member is provided with at least one of a concave portion and a convex portion.

A plasma processing apparatus, comprising a plasma processing chamber; a plasma generator to generate a plasma from a processing gas in the plasma processing chamber; and a substrate support disposed in the plasma processing chamber, is provided. The substrate support includes a base; an electrostatic chuck disposed above the base; a first annular member to surround a substrate on the substrate support; a second annular member disposed below the first annular member and having a plurality of through holes; a plurality of lift pins disposed to correspond to the respective through holes, each lift pin having an upper portion to support the first annular member through the corresponding through hole and a lower portion; at least one spacer fixed to at least one of the lift pins, disposed on the lower portion so as to surround the upper portion and support the second annular member; and at least one actuator to vertically move the lift pins.

Examples disclosed herein are directed to a method and apparatus for determining a position of a ring within a process kit. In one example, a sensor assembly for a substrate processing chamber is provided. The sensor assembly includes a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, and a plurality of sidewalls connecting the top surface to the bottom surface. The housing also has a recess in the top surface, the recess forming an interior volume within the housing. The sensory assembly includes a bias member, and a contact member disposed on the bias member. The bias member and contact member are disposed within the recess. A sensor is configured to detect a displacement of the contact member. The displacement of the contact member corresponds to a relative position of an edge ring.

A particle removed from a substrate is suppressed from adhering to the substrate again. A substrate cleaning apparatus includes a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate; a gas nozzle configured to jet a cleaning gas to the substrate on the substrate holder; and a nozzle cover provided to surround the gas nozzle. The cleaning gas is jetted to a decompression chamber of the nozzle cover from the gas nozzle, and a gas cluster configured to remove the particle on the substrate in the decompression chamber is generated. A gas for a gas curtain is jetted from an end portion of the nozzle cover toward the substrate, and the gas curtain is formed between the substrate and the end portion of the nozzle cover.

A focus ring placement table includes an annular ceramic heater on which a focus ring is placed, a metal base, an adhesive element bonding the metal base and the ceramic heater, an inner-peripheral-side protective element disposed between the metal base and the ceramic heater and bonded to an inner peripheral portion of the adhesive element, and an outer-peripheral-side protective element disposed between the metal base and the ceramic heater and bonded to an outer peripheral portion of the adhesive element. A coefficient of thermal expansion of the adhesive element is equal to or smaller than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the inner-peripheral-side protective element and is equal to or greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the outer-peripheral-side protective element.

A member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a disk-shaped or annular ceramic heater, a metal base, an adhesive element bonding the metal base and the ceramic heater, an adhesive protective element disposed between the ceramic heater and the metal base to extend along a periphery of the adhesive element, and an anti-adhesion layer disposed between the adhesive element and the protective element, the anti-adhesion layer preventing adhesion between the adhesive element and the protective element.

Embodiments provided herein include an apparatus and methods for the plasma processing of a substrate in a processing chamber. In some embodiments, aspects of the apparatus and methods are directed to reducing defectivity in features formed on the surface of the substrate, improving plasma etch rate, and increasing selectivity of etching material to mask and/or etching material to stop layer. In some embodiments, the apparatus and methods enable processes that can be used to prevent or reduce the effect of trapped charges, disposed within features formed on a substrate, on the etch rate and defect formation. In some embodiments, the plasma processing methods include the synchronization of the delivery of pulsed-voltage (PV) waveforms, and alternately the delivery of a PV waveform and a radio frequency (RF) waveform, so as to allow for the independent control of generation of electrons that are provided, during one or more stages of a PV waveform cycle, to neutralize the trapped charges formed in the features formed on the substrate.

A cleaning assembly for cleaning one or more wafer edge handling contact surfaces of wafer handling equipment includes a substrate and a cleaning ring. The substrate includes an edge portion that extends about the body of the substrate. The cleaning ring is reversibly attachable to the edge portion of the substrate. The cleaning ring is formed from a deformable material. The substrate and cleaning ring are sized for compatibility with a front opening unified pod (FOUP) or a wafer cassette of a semiconductor fabrication facility.

An article includes a ceramic material and features a machined surface that is characteristic of cold ablation laser machining, and the machined surface exhibits no visible oxidation. A laser machining apparatus and technique is based on cold-ablation, but is modified or augmented with an inert assist gas to minimize deleterious surface modifications and mitigate oxide formation associated with laser machining.