Controlling temperature of a faraday shield

1. A method for controlling thermal cycling of a faraday shield disposed in a plasma process chamber, comprising:

performing a first plasma processing operation on a first wafer in the plasma process chamber;

terminating the first plasma processing operation;

performing a first wafer transfer operation to transfer the first wafer out of the chamber; and

during the first wafer transfer operation, applying power to a TCP coil under a plasma limiting condition, the TCP coil disposed over the faraday shield.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation prevents a drop in temperature greater than about 10 degrees Centigrade of a faraday shield of the plasma process chamber, the drop in temperature defined from a peak temperature of the faraday shield achieved during the first plasma processing operation.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,

performing a second wafer transfer operation to transfer a second wafer into the plasma process chamber;

during the second wafer transfer operation, applying power to the TCP coil under a plasma limiting condition; and

performing a second plasma processing operation on the second wafer in the plasma process chamber.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after the first wafer transfer operation, performing a wafer-less autocleaning operation.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation is continued during an initial stabilization period of the wafer-less autocleaning operation.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein after the initial stabilization period, the wafer-less autocleaning operation includes applying power to the TCP coil at a wattage higher than the applied power during the first wafer transfer operation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma limiting condition is defined by a pressure of less than about 5 millitorr of nitrogen gas.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation is at about 500 to about 1000 Watts.

9. A method for controlling thermal cycling of a faraday shield disposed in a plasma process chamber, comprising:

performing a first plasma processing operation on a first wafer in the plasma process chamber;

terminating the first plasma processing operation;

performing a first wafer transfer operation to transfer the first wafer out of the chamber;

during the first wafer transfer operation, applying power to a TCP coil under a plasma limiting condition, the TCP coil disposed over the faraday shield;

performing a second wafer transfer operation to transfer a second wafer into the plasma process chamber;

during the second wafer transfer operation, applying power to the TCP coil under a plasma limiting condition; and

performing a second plasma processing operation on the second wafer in the plasma process chamber.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein applying power to the TCP coil during the first and second wafer transfer operations prevents a drop in temperature greater than about 10 degrees Centigrade of a faraday shield of the plasma process chamber, the drop in temperature defined from a peak temperature of the faraday shield achieved during the first plasma processing operation.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, after the first wafer transfer operation, and prior to the second wafer transfer operation, performing a wafer-less autocleaning operation.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation is continued during an initial stabilization period of the wafer-less autocleaning operation.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein after the initial stabilization period, the wafer-less autocleaning operation includes applying power to the TCP coil at a wattage higher than the applied power during the first wafer transfer operation.

14. The method of claim 9 ,

wherein the plasma limiting condition is defined by a pressure of less than about 5 millitorr of nitrogen gas; and

wherein applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation is at about 500 to about 1000 Watts.

15. A method for controlling thermal cycling of a faraday shield disposed in a plasma process chamber, comprising:

performing a first plasma processing operation on a first wafer in the plasma process chamber;

terminating the first plasma processing operation;

performing a first wafer transfer operation to transfer the first wafer out of the chamber;

during the first wafer transfer operation, applying power to a TCP coil at about 500 to about 1000 Watts under a plasma limiting condition, the TCP coil disposed over the faraday shield;

performing a wafer-less autocleaning operation.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation prevents a drop in temperature greater than about 10 degrees Centigrade of a faraday shield of the plasma process chamber, the drop in temperature defined from a peak temperature of the faraday shield achieved during the first plasma processing operation.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the applying power to the TCP coil during the first wafer transfer operation is continued during an initial stabilization period of the wafer-less autocleaning operation.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein after the initial stabilization period, the wafer-less autocleaning operation includes applying power to the TCP coil at a wattage higher than the applied power during the first wafer transfer operation.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising,

performing a second wafer transfer operation to transfer a second wafer into the plasma process chamber;

during the second wafer transfer operation, applying power to the TCP coil under a plasma limiting condition; and

performing a second plasma processing operation on the second wafer in the plasma process chamber.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plasma limiting condition is defined by a pressure of less than about 5 millitorr of nitrogen gas.