Plasma processing system and method

A method of measuring particle concentration in a plasma processing system having a chamber containing a plasma processing region in which a plasma can be generated during a plasma process to process a substrate and a magnetic field generator configured to produce a magnetic field in the chamber, the method comprising:

• positioning the magnetic field generator, a sheet optic element and an imaging device relative to one another to access the plasma;
• producing a light sheet to illuminate particles in the chamber with the sheet optic element;
• acquiring image data corresponding to the illuminated particles with the imaging device;
• and
• obtaining a concentration of particles in the light sheet.

A method of minimizing a particle concentration in a plasma processing chamber of a plasma processing system comprising:

• positioning a substrate or wafer in a plasma processing chamber to be processed with a plasma;
• performing a plasma process on the substrate or wafer;
• obtaining a concentration of particles in the chamber;
• and
• modifying the plasma process to reduce particles to a predetermined level within in the chamber.