PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PLASMA PROCESSING METHOD

There is provided a plasma processing apparatus and a plasma processing method for efficiently processing a wafer using plasma. The plasma processing apparatus includes two processing steps and a bridging step between the two processing steps. The plasma processing apparatus includes: a first gas supply unit which supplies a processing-use gas into the processing chamber during the processing step; a second gas supply unit which supplies a bridging-use gas into the processing chamber during the bridging step; a gas switching unit for switching the supply of the processing-use gas from the first gas supply unit and the bridging-use gas from the second gas supply unit to the processing chamber in transition between the two processing steps and the bridging step; and a control part which is configured to regulate a flow rate of the bridging-use gas to be supplied during the bridging step to a flow rate regarded equal to a supply amount of the processing-use gas to be supplied during a succeeding processing step out of the two processing steps.