Method and apparatus for improving etch and deposition uniformity in plasma semiconductor processing

摘要

A plasma processing system and method for processing substrates such as by chemical vapor deposition or etching. The system includes a plasma processing chamber, a substrate support for supporting a substrate within the processing chamber, a dielectric member having an interior surface facing the substrate support, the dielectric member forming a wall of the processing chamber, a primary gas supply supplying a primary gas such as process gas into the chamber, a secondary gas supply supplying a secondary gas such as a substantially inert, a substrate passivating or a reactant scavenging gas into the chamber, and an RF energy source such as a planar coil which inductively couples RF energy through the dielectric member and into the chamber to energize the primary gas into a plasma state. The secondary gas is concentrated near the periphery of the substrate, improving etching/deposition uniformity across the substrate surface.