Method for Controlling Electrostatic Attractor and Plasma Processing Apparatus

A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a chamber;
• a substrate support configured to support a substrate in the chamber and disposed in a lower portion of the chamber;
• an upper electrode disposed an upper portion of the chamber, and includes:
• a gas plate;
• an electrode in contact with a lower surface of the gas plate;
• and
• an electrostatic chuck that is disposed to be opposed to the substrate support, is interposed between the electrode and the gas plate, has a contact surface in contact with the lower surface of the gas plate and an attraction surface attracting an upper surface of the electrode to the gas plate, and includes a first electrode and a second electrode;
• a first power supply configured to apply a voltage to the first electrode;
• a second power supply configured to apply a voltage to the second electrode;
• and
• a controller configured to control the voltages applied by the first power supply and the second power supply,
• wherein the controller performs a control to apply voltages having polarities different from each other to the first electrode and the second electrode of the electrostatic chuck during at least an idle period in which no plasma is generated among a plasma generation period in which plasma is generated and the idle period.

A plasma processing apparatus, comprising

• a chamber;
• a gas plate disposed in the chamber;
• an electrode disposed below the gas plate;
• a substrate support disposed in a lower portion of the chamber and configured to support a substrate;
• an electrostatic chuck that is disposed in an upper portion of the chamber, is opposed to the substrate support, is configured to attract the electrode to the gas plate, and includes a first electrode and a second electrode;
• a plasma generator configured to generate a plasma;
• and
• a controller configured to cause:
• applying voltages having polarities different from each other to the first electrode and the second electrode of the electrostatic chuck during at least an idle period in which no plasma is generated among a plasma generation period in which plasma is generated and the idle period.

A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a plasma processing chamber;
• a substrate support disposed in the plasma processing chamber, the substrate support including a lower electrode;
• a showerhead assembly disposed above the substrate support, the showerhead assembly including:
• a conductive member;
• an upper electrode below the conductive member;
• and
• an electrostatic chuck disposed between the upper electrode and the conductive member, the electrostatic chuck including a first electrostatic electrode and a second electrostatic electrode;
• a first power supply electrically connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode;
• a second power supply electrically connected to the lower electrode;
• a first DC power supply configured to apply a first DC voltage to the first electrostatic electrode, the first DC voltage having a first polarity;
• and
• a second DC power supply configured to apply a second DC voltage to the second electrostatic electrode, the second DC voltage having a second polarity different from the first polarity.