Dry etching apparatus

Claim 1

A dry etching apparatus for etching a workpiece, comprising: a vacuum vessel having a loading chamber; an anode and a cathode which are arranged to face each other in said vacuum vessel; high-frequency power means for being applied to said cathode; a flange section extending from an inner wall of said vacuum vessel and located between said anode and said cathode; loading means for loading a workpiece into said loading chamber between said flange section and said cathode from outside said vacuum vessel; drive means for moving said cathode together with the workpiece toward said anode and urging an edge portion of said cathode against said flange section, said cathode partitioning an interior of said vacuum vessel into an etching chamber in which the workpiece is stored when the edge portion of said cathode is urged against said flange section; means for introducing an etching gas into said etching chamber, said introducing means including at least one supply hole, formed in said flange section, for supplying the etching gas toward said etching chamber; means for applying a magnetic field into said etching chamber, so that a plasma is generated in said etching chamber by the magnetic field and the high-frequency power applied to said cathode, said means for applying a magnetic field including a magnetic unit which is positioned outside said vacuum vessel such that said anode is located between said magnetic unit and said cathode; and evacuation means for evacuating the interior of said etching chamber to maintain a predetermined pressure in said etching chamber, said evacuation means including a plurality of exhaust holes formed in said flange section at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction and opening to a surface of said flange section faces said etching chamber, said exhaust holes communicating with said etching chamber and said loading chamber of said vacuum vessel.