Plasma Processing Apparatus and Method for Measuring Resonance Frequency

A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a processing chamber that provides a processing space where plasma processing is performed;
• an electromagnetic wave generator configured to generate electromagnetic waves to be supplied to the processing space;
• a resonating structure disposed in the processing chamber and formed by arranging a plurality of resonators that are capable of resonating with a magnetic field component of the electromagnetic waves and having sizes smaller than a wavelength of the electromagnetic waves;
• a measurement part configured to measure, for each frequency, a power of transmitted waves, reflected waves or scattered waves of the electromagnetic waves in the resonating structure;
• and
• a controller,
• wherein prior to execution of the plasma processing, the controller performs:
• a measurement process for measuring the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves with the measurement part;
• and
• a calculation process for calculating a resonance frequency of the resonating structure based on frequency distribution of the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves.

A method for measuring a resonance frequency of a resonating structure in a plasma processing apparatus,

• wherein the plasma processing apparatus includes:
• a processing chamber that provides a processing space where plasma processing is performed;
• an electromagnetic wave generator configured to generate electromagnetic waves to be supplied to the processing space;
• a resonating structure disposed in the processing chamber and formed by arranging a plurality of resonators that are capable of resonating with a magnetic field component of the electromagnetic waves and having sizes smaller than a wavelength of the electromagnetic waves;
• and
• a measurement part configured to measure, for each frequency, a power of transmitted waves, reflected waves, or scattered waves of the electromagnetic waves in the resonating structure,
• the method comprising:
• measuring, prior to execution of the plasma processing, for each frequency, the power of the electromagnetic waves, and the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves by the measurement part;
• and
• calculating the resonance frequency of the resonating structure based on frequency distribution of characteristic values of the resonating structure, which are calculated from the power of the electromagnetic waves and the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves.

A method for measuring a resonance frequency of a resonating structure in a plasma processing apparatus,

• wherein the plasma processing apparatus includes:
• a processing chamber that provides a processing space where plasma processing is performed;
• an electromagnetic wave generator configured to generate electromagnetic waves to be supplied to the processing space;
• a resonating structure disposed in the processing chamber and formed by arranging a plurality of resonators that are capable of resonating with a magnetic field component of the electromagnetic waves and having sizes smaller than a wavelength of the electromagnetic waves;
• and
• a measurement part configured to measure, for each frequency, a power of transmitted waves, reflected waves, or scattered waves of the electromagnetic waves in the resonating structure,
• the method comprising:
• measuring, prior to execution of the plasma processing, for each frequency, the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves by the measurement part;
• and
• calculating the resonance frequency of the resonating structure based on frequency distribution of the power of the transmitted waves, the reflected waves, or the scattered waves.