Abstract: Method for operating a plasma processing system by setting first process recipes for first station specifying initial gas flow rate, a change point, and a subsequent gas flow rate; setting second process recipes for second station specifying second gas flow rate; setting an initial estimate for gas leakage from the first station into the second station through the transport opening; and calculating a gas flow change for the second station using the initial gas flow rate and the subsequent gas flow rate of the first station, and the initial estimate; executing plasma processing simultaneously in the first station and the second station according to the first process recipe, the second process recipe and the gas flow change.

Abstract: A plasma chamber for physical vapor deposition, having an anode aperture shield that reduces the field of view to the substrate for deposition particles from the sputtering target. The anode aperture shield limits the deposition particles reaching the substrate to selected maximum angles from the vertical, and rejects particles approaching with a larger angle from the vertical. The node aperture shield is grounded and may be constructed of an upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart from the upper plate, wherein the upper plate may include perforations or may incorporate an electron filter.