Pressure control and plasma confinement in a plasma processing chamber

摘要

A plasma apparatus which includes a vacuum chamber provided with an exhaust port and a chuck assembly disposed inside the vacuum chamber. The plasma apparatus also includes a plasma confinement and pressure control apparatus disposed proximate to the substrate. The plasma confinement and pressure control apparatus includes a plurality of ring members disposed adjacent to each other in a superposed fashion and a plurality of lift assemblies disposed along a circumference of the plurality of ring members. The plurality of lift assemblies are arranged to support the plurality of ring members. The plasma confinement apparatus further includes at least one lift mechanism connected to the lift assemblies. The lift mechanism is configured to translate at least one of the plurality of ring members relative to a reference plane and to tilt at least one of the plurality of the ring members relative to the reference plane.