Prevention of electrostatic wafer sticking in plasma deposition/etch tools

A method for reducing electrostatic sticking of a processed substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

• placing a substrate to be processed within a substrate clamping mechanism of a processing chamber;
• creating a plasma within said processing chamber by turning on an RF power supply;
• processing said substrate by exposing a surface thereof to said plasma;
• terminating said processing of said substrate by turning off said RF power by first reducing the RF power to an intermediate power level of approximately 5 to 10 watts;
• neutralizing an electrostatic charge that exists on said substrate by exposure of said substrate to said plasma at said intermediate power level;
• turning said RF power down to zero following said intermediate power level step;
• and
• removing said substrate from said chamber.

A method for reducing electrostatic sticking of a processed substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

• placing a substrate to be processed within a substrate clamping mechanism of a processing chamber;
• creating a plasma within said processing chamber by turning on an RF power supply;
• processing said substrate by exposing a surface thereof to said plasma;
• terminating said processing of said substrate by turning off said RF power by first reducing the RF power to an intermediate power level of approximately 5 to 10 watts;
• discharging an electrostatic charge that exists on said substrate by exposure of said substrate to said plasma at said intermediate power level for a time period of approximately 1 second;
• turning said RF power down to zero following said intermediate power level step;
• and
• removing said substrate from said chamber.