RING-SHAPED HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA SOURCE AND METHOD

摘要

A processing system for processing a substrate with a plasma is provided with an antenna for producing a ring-shaped inductively coupled plasma in a vacuum processing chamber particularly useful for coating or etching semiconductor wafer substrates. A three-dimensional antenna in the form of a coil provides spacial distribution of plasma parameters in a ring-shaped region inside of the chamber that can be adapted to specific physical and process requirements. An axially symmetric permanent magnet assembly enhances the ring-shaped concentration of a high-density inductively coupled plasma by trapping the plasma in the ring-shaped region near the inside of a dielectric window located in the chamber wall in close proximity to segments of the antenna that lie adjacent the outside of the window.