A RF detector is provided and includes LO and RF paths, a mixer and a filter. The LO path includes a first buffer and a sine-to-square wave converter. The first buffer receives a first RF signal that is based on a RF input signal received by the RF detector. The RF input signal is detected within a substrate processing system. The sine-to-square wave converter converts a sine wave of the first RF signal to a square wave and outputs a LO signal having the square wave. The RF path includes a second buffer that receives a second RF signal and outputs a RF output signal. The second RF signal is based on the RF input signal. The mixer generates an IF signal based on the LO and RF output signals. The filter filters the IF signal to generate a DC signal, which is representative of the second RF signal.

An etching method of forming, on a substrate having a base film; a stacked film in which a first film and a second film are alternately stacked on the base film; and a mask on the stacked film, a recess in the stacked film through the mask by using plasma includes preparing the substrate; and etching the stacked film until the recess of the stacked film reaches the base film by plasma formed from a gas containing hydrogen, fluorine and carbon, while maintaining a substrate temperature equal to or less than 15° C.

There is provided a plasma processing apparatus comprising: a chamber; a lower electrode provided in the chamber and included in a substrate support; an upper electrode provided in the chamber and disposed to face the lower electrode; a gas supply configured to supply a processing gas; a high-frequency power supply electrically connected to the upper electrode and configured to generate a plasma of the processing gas by applying a high-frequency voltage to the upper electrode; a first meter configured to measure a potential waveform of the upper electrode; a second meter configured to measure a potential waveform of the lower electrode; a detector configured to detect a voltage waveform; an impedance adjusting device configured to adjust an impedance of the lower electrode; and a controller configured to control the impedance adjusting device to adjust the impedance of the lower electrode based on the voltage waveform detected by the detector.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a system used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. More specifically, embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus and methods for synchronizing and controlling the delivery of an RF bias voltage signal and a pulsed voltage waveform to one or more electrodes within a plasma processing chamber. Embodiments of the disclosure include a method and apparatus for synchronizing a pulsed radio frequency (RF) waveform to a pulsed voltage (PV) waveform, such that the pulsed RF waveform is on during a first stage of the PV waveform and off during a second stage. The first stage of the PV waveform includes a sheath collapse stage. The second stage of the PV waveform includes an ion current stage.

A frequency tuning impedance matching method includes analyzing a start driving frequency, set by a user, and an RF output signal to vary a driving frequency. Specifically, a next frequency may be predicted using susceptance which is an imaginary part of measured admittance in an n-th pulse. Accordingly, impedance matching may be completed at high speed or an optimal frequency may be reached at high speed.

Provided are a plasma generating apparatus and a substrate processing apparatus. The plasma generating apparatus includes a plurality of dielectric tubes mounted in a plurality of through-holes formed in a vacuum container, respectively; antennas comprising or divided into a first group of antennas and a second group of antennas based on their disposition symmetry in the vacuum container and mounted outside the dielectric tubes, respectively; a first RF power source to supply power to the first group of antennas; a second RF power source to supply power to the second group of antennas; and a first power distribution unit disposed between the first group of antennas and the first RF power source to distribute the power from the first RF power source to the first group of antennas.

A plasma processing apparatus performs a stable and accurate matching operation with high reproducibility in a power modulation process of modulating of a high frequency power to be supplied into a processing vessel in a pulse shape. In the plasma processing apparatus, an impedance sensor 96A provided in a matching device performs a dual sampling averaging process on a RF voltage measurement value and an electric current measurement value respectively obtained from a RF voltage detector 100A of a voltage sensor system and a RF electric current detector 108A of an electric current sensor system by sampling-average-value calculating circuits 104A and 112A and by moving-average-value calculating circuits 106A and 114A. Thus, an update speed of a load impedance measurement value outputted from the impedance sensor 96A can be matched well with a driving control speed of a motor in a matching controller.

In particular embodiments, anomalous plasma events, which may include formation of an electric arc in a semiconductor processing chamber, may be detected and mitigated. In certain embodiments, a method may include detecting an optical signal emitted by a plasma, converting the optical signal to a voltage signal, and forming an adjusted voltage signal. Responsive to determining that the changes associated with the adjusted voltage signal exceed a threshold, an output power of an RF signal coupled to the chamber may be adjusted. Such adjustment may mitigate formation of the anomalous plasma event occurring within the chamber.

Disclosed are a method of plasma etching and a method of fabricating a semiconductor device including the same. The method of plasma etching includes loading a substrate including an etch target onto a first electrode in a chamber, the chamber including the first electrode and a second electrode arranged to face each other, and etching the target. The etching the target includes applying a plurality of RF powers to one of the first and second electrodes. The plurality of RF powers may include a first RF power having a first frequency in a range from about 40 MHz to about 300 MHz, a second RF power having a second frequency in a range from about 100 kHz to about 10 MHz, and a third RF power having a third frequency in a range from about 10 kHz to about 5 MHz.

Embodiments described herein relate to methods of tuning within semiconductor processes to improve plasma stability. In these embodiments, multiple matching networks are provided. Each of the matching networks couple a radio frequency (RF) source to one of multiple connection points located on an electrode. Based on tuning parameter information and physical geometry information, a controller determines a tuning sequence for the multiple matching networks. As such, some of the matching networks are tuned while the other matching networks are locked. Using multiple matching networks leads to a more uniform plasma within the process volume of the process chamber. Improved plasma uniformity leads to less substrate defects and better device performance. Additionally, in these embodiments, the ability to tune each of the matching networks in a sequence decreases or prevents interference from occurring between the matching networks.