Plasma treatment method

Abstract

A plasma treatment method of etching a substrate to be processed by using a gas plasma in a treatment chamber. The method includes exhausting reaction products obtained by etching and released into a vapor phase as a gas from the treatment chamber, wherein the reaction products on an outer periphery of the substrate are more efficiently exhausted and setting a deposition probability of the reaction products in a central part of a plane of the substrate to be low and setting a deposition probability of the reaction products in a peripheral part of a plane of the substrate to be high. The setting of the deposition probability is effected by setting a temperature in the central part of the substrate higher than a temperature in the peripheral part of the substrate.

1 . A plasma treatment apparatus for etching a substrate to be processed by using a gas plasma in a treatment chamber, comprising: 
 an electrode disposing the substrate to be processed thereon;    a vacuum pump for exhausting reaction products obtained by etching and releasing into a vapor phase as a gas from the treatment chamber;    the vacuum pump providing a more efficient exhaustion of the reaction products from the outer periphery and redistributing the amount of reaction products between the central part of the substrate and the peripheral part of the substrate; and    a controller for regulating pressure of the heat transfer gas supplied to each part between the substrate and the electrode by independent passages provided for the respective parts to which the heat transfer gas is supplied, and for controlling a temperature distribution in a plane of the substrate to be processed to increase the temperature in the central part greater than that of the peripheral part to provide increased uniformity of the re-irradiation effect of the reaction products.    
   
   
       2 . A plasma treatment apparatus for etching a substrate to be processed by using a gas plasma in a treatment chamber according to  claim 1 , wherein the vacuum pump provides more efficient exhaustion of the reaction products from substantially the entire outer periphery.