Window protector for sputter etching of metal layers

An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus, comprising:

• a chamber having a top opening;
• a window that seals the top opening of the chamber, the window having an inner surface that is exposed to an internal region of the chamber;
• and
• a window protector for protecting the inner surface of the window disposed within the chamber, the window protector being in the shape of a Faraday shield, and the window protector being separated from the inner surface of the window by a distance in a range from 0.02 inch to 0.1 inch.

An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus, comprising:

• a chamber having a top opening;
• a chuck for holding a wafer being processed disposed within the chamber;
• a window that seals the top opening of the chamber, the window having an inner surface that is exposed to an internal region of the chamber;
• and
• a plurality of window protectors affixed to the inner surface of the window, each of the plurality of window protectors having an upper surface that is affixed to the inner surface of the window and a lower surface that is exposed to the internal region of the chamber, the lower surface of each window protector having a cross-sectional width that is larger than a cross-sectional width of the upper surface of each window protector, and the plurality of window protectors being arranged on the inner surface of the window in a spaced apart relationship such that each region of the inner surface of the window that is in a line of sight of the wafer being processed is separated from an adjacent window protector by a region of the inner surface of the window that is not in the line of sight of the wafer being processed.

An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus, comprising:

• a chamber having a top opening;
• a window that seals the top opening of the chamber, the window having an inner surface that is exposed to an internal region of the chamber;
• and
• means for protecting the inner surface of the window from having conductive etch byproducts deposited thereon in the form of a continuous loop.