Plasma processing apparatus and method

A plasma processing apparatus for processing a sample which is located in a processing chamber disposed inside a vacuum vessel using a plasma generated in the processing chamber comprising:

• a sample table disposed at lower side of the processing chamber on which the sample is located, the sample table including at least a conductive portion;
• a bell jar made of an insulative material constituting an upper portion of the vacuum vessel, which is disposed at an upper side of the sample table and the processing chamber;
• a coil antenna disposed outside and around the bell jar to which electric power is supplied so as to generate the plasma in a plasma generating space inside of the bell jar;
• a Faraday shield mounted on the bell jar and disposed between an external surface of the bell jar and the coil antenna;
• an exhausting device which exhausts an inside the processing chamber and which is disposed below the sample table;
• a gas ring member located below a skirt portion of the bell jar and above the sample table and which supplies a process gas to a space in which the plasma is generated inside the bell jar from a gas port disposed on an inner surface of the gas ring member around the sample table;
• a susceptor made of a dielectric material and disposed along a circumferential portion of a surface of the sample table where the sample is located, the susceptor covering at least a portion of a surface of the sample table and having an upper surface of the susceptor facing the plasma, the susceptor having a metal film and a contact portion which contacts and electrically connects the conductive portion of the sample table and the metal film;
• wherein the metal film is disposed at a predetermined depth below the upper surface of the susceptor and is supplied with RF power via the conductive portion of the sample table and the contact portion.