A method of preventing particulates from depositing onto a wafer (27) during all periods that processing is not taking place including during all periods of wafer transfer into or out of a plasma reactor chamber (22). During all periods in which a wafer (27) is within the reactor chamber (22), but is not being processed, a nonreactive auxiliary plasma is produced in the reactor chamber (22). This plasma charges the particulates and produces just above the surface of the wafer (27) an electric field that repels the particulates from the wafer (27).
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