fig1 through 7 of the drawings depict various preferred embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only . one skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein . the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a chamber having an integrated ecr - plasma source and useful for reactive plasma deposition and low temperature processing . with reference to fig1 - 4 , a deposition chamber 10 has a substrate holder 12 upon which can be mounted one or more substrates 14 for processing within the chamber . the substrate holder 12 can be mounted to the side of the chamber 10 , as shown in fig1 or can be mounted to top of the chamber , as shown in fig2 - 4 . the substrate holder preferably includes a rotary drive 16 that rotates the substrate 14 within the chamber and a heater that heats the substrate . a power supply 18 ( fig2 ) is electrically coupled to the substrate 14 through the substrate holder 12 so as to supply a bias voltage and / or current to the substrate . all the devices located within the chamber are preferably made from corrosion resistant materials . the deposition chamber 10 is preferably made of stainless steel and is cylindrical in shape , having a diameter of 50 cm and a height of 70 cm . several flanges are attached to the chamber 10 . a flange 20 ( fig3 ) is located at the top of the chamber 10 and provides a mounting for the heated substrate holder and a pressure gauge ( not shown ). other flanges 22 , 24 ( fig4 ) are mounted on the side of the chamber 10 . one of these flanges provides a mounting for a pellet 26 of material to be ablated according to known ablation techniques so that material to be deposited on the substrate 14 is released from the piece of material . a holder 28 for the pellet 26 preferably includes a rotary drive 30 for rotating the pellet so that overheating thereof is avoided . the pellet material can be , for example , a pellet of superconducting ybco material , in which case the pellet can be 5 mm thick and has a diameter of 20 mm . the rotating pellet is positioned facing the substrate 14 at a separation distance of 3 to 7 cm . on the opposite flange 24 , an introduction chamber 32 and a transfer system 34 for the substrate are mounted to the chamber . the introduction chamber and transfer system permit loading the substrate 14 without venting the chamber . as also shown in fig4 four additional flanges 36 , 38 , 40 , and 42 with transparent windows are mounted on the side of the chamber 10 . one flange 36 provides a transparent window for an incoming laser beam 44 . another flange provides a transparent window for rheed diagnostics 46 . the remaining two flanges 40 , 42 house transparent windows that enable side viewing of the ablation plume and of the mounting of the substrate . as shown in fig1 and 2 , two evaporation cells ( knudsen or effusion cells ) 48 , 50 are mounted on the chamber 10 . in addition , an ion gauge and a quadrupole mass spectrometer can be mounted on the chamber . a laser beam 44 is generated by a laser 52 and is directed through an entrance or window 54 onto the pellet 26 . preferably , the laser 52 used to radiate the pellet 26 is a quanta ray model gcr - 3 frequency tripled nd : yag laser . at a wavelength of 355 nm , this device has a pulse energy of 0 . 25 j and a pulse duration of 6 ns . the laser beam 44 is not focused , has a diameter of 7 mm and thus produces a fluence of 0 . 5 j / cm 2 . irradiation is carried out of 10 hz for optimum stability and is incident near 15 ° to the target surface normal . the laser 52 is preferably galvanically controlled so that patterns can be written onto the pellet 26 or the substrate 14 . an ecr source 56 is mounted to the side of chamber 10 on two large ( 200 mm ) flanges 58 , 60 . on the flanges 58 , 60 are mounted water - cooled magnet coils or solenoids 62 , 64 that generate a magnetic field having a field strength of 875 gauss within the chamber . mounted to the center of flange 58 , a coaxial antenna 66 delivers microwaves of 2 . 45 ghz inside the chamber 10 . a magnetron 68 generates the microwave radiation at 2 . 45 ghz , up to a maximum of 300 w . the microwave output of the magnetron is delivered via a waveguide structure 70 fitted with five mobile circuit terminations 72 for impedance matching to the antenna 66 . fig5 gives a detailed illustration of the magnetron 68 , the waveguide 70 , and the coaxial antenna 66 . the plasma gas is introduced to the chamber through the coaxial conductor of the antenna 66 and regulated by means of a needle - valve 74 to provide the desired background pressure in the chamber . a flange 76 is located at the bottom of the deposition chamber 10 for attachment of a vacuum pump 78 . the pump is preferably resistive to corrosive gases and has a variable speed to keep the chamber 10 at low pressure ( 10 - 9 torr , for example ) prior to introduction of the gas . legs 80 support the chamber 10 . to obtain an ecr - plasma , microwave radiation is injected through the antenna 66 into the deposition chamber 10 in which a static magnetic field and a certain gas pressure are present . plasma ignition is reached when the frequency of the incoming microwave radiation and the cyclotron frequency of the free electrons in the magnetic field are equal , following the formula : at 2 . 45 ghz , electron resonance conditions are achieved in regions where the magnetic field value equals 875 gauss (= 875 . 10 - 4 tesla ). the highly energetic electrons dissociate and ionize the gas ( o 2 , n 2 , ar , ch 4 , or other gas ) molecules to generate a plasma . the plasma is confined by the magnetic field . the 875 gauss regions act as magnetic mirrors and the plasma is confined to a cylindrical region of perhaps 50 cm long and a diameter that can vary from about 5 cm to about 10 cm depending on the magnetic field parameters . the plasma is transported over the substrate along the magnetic field lines so as to avoid interaction with the chamber walls . plasma operation is possible over a wide range of gas pressure . the gas pressure used during plasma operation is between 10 - 3 and 10 - 5 torr ; at higher or lower pressures plasma ignition is impossible . the plasma is sustained in different plasma modes , depending on the ecr parameters being current in the magnet coil , injected microwave power and gas pressure . at low pressure , microwave power and magnet current , the plasma operates in a ring mode formed by the 875 gauss field lines , with little diffusion towards the middle of the ring . this condition is shown in fig6 a . the plasma density in the vicinity of the substrate is low in this case . at higher values of current , power , and pressure , the excited species diffuse towards the middle of the ring and a nearly homogeneous plasma cloud is formed around the substrate . this bulk mode of the plasma is shown in fig6 b . the plasma density near the substrate can thus be varied by tuning the different ecr parameters -- current in the magnet coil , injected microwave power and gas pressure . consequently the incorporation of the plasma material in the deposited film can be altered by altering the mode of the plasma . the introduction of a substrate holder 12 and the manipulator in the plasma does not disturb the operation of the plasma . the surface of the substrate 14 ( or the substrate holder 12 ) can be biased by the power supply 18 to attract ions or electrons . for example , in oxide growth applications a positive bias can enhance the amount of o - ions in the vicinity of the sample or in etch applications the etch rate can be increased by biasing the substrate . the characteristic atomic and ionic optical transitions present in excited gas spectrum can be used to analyze the plasma . this makes the optical on - line monitoring of the gas content possible . the optical emission spectrum of the plasma can indicate whether the plasma is in the bulk mode or the ring mode . an optical emission spectrum of an o 2 - ecr plasma is shown in fig7 . the atomic oxygen emission of the bulk - mode plasma is significantly higher than that of the ring - mode plasma . a comparison of the spectrum in the bulk mode and the ring mode of the plasma shows that the atomic density increases relative to the density of the other species when switching from a ring to a bulk plasma . it is clear from these measurements that the density of atomic species can be tuned with the ecr - parameters . since the atoms play a major role in the oxidation and reduction processes , this tuning ability creates a wide variety of processing possibilities in the deposition chamber . the injected gas , such as oxygen or nitrogen , is ionized at the 875 gauss spots and enters a plasma state in the area between the two spots so that the plasma is subsequently confined therein . the generated ions are transported along or constrained by the magnetic field lines that surround the substrate . since interaction with the chamber walls is avoided , a pure and clean plasma is produced , resulting in pure and clean layers . the microwave system shown here does not require , and preferably does not have , a separate discharge cell or an extra quartz tube for keeping the plasma away from the walls of the chamber . an efficient transporting of the oxygen containing plasma takes place over the substrate along the magnetic field lines because of the dimensioning of the magnetic field . even at a pressure of only 10 - 3 to 10 - 5 torr , the plasma will ignite . it will be apparent that with the device shown , superconducting layers can be deposited in their superconducting phase without post - cooling in oxygen atmosphere due to the reactivity of the ecr plasma . optional passivation of a superconducting layer using an oxide layer can be performed without oxygen being extracted from the superconducting layer as sufficient oxygen can be brought into the plasma . both etching using a plasma and writing patterns using a laser is possible with the device shown , wherein removing the substrate from the vacuum chamber is avoided , and therefore introducing impurities and is also avoided . the device can also be used for deposition of other layers such as diamond or epitaxial silicium . the deposition chamber of the present invention is designed for compound thin film deposition processes in which one of the constituent materials of the deposited film originates from the ecr plasma . two different types of deposition are possible : ecr reactive laser ablation and ecr reactive thermal evaporation . the system can be adapted to include a sputtering system as well . this combination also enables in - situ plasma treatment of the layers immediately after the deposition . the active plasma or plasma - assisted laser ablation and thermal evaporation can be combined in - situ , e . g ., depositing multiple layers with laser ablation and evaporation successively without venting the chamber or , for example , evaporation of metal contacts on a plasma reactive laser ablated metal oxide layer . the main features of this invention are related to the plasma and the combination of the plasma with different types of depositions . more specifically , the features include : ( 1 ) the specific geometry of a large plasma which allows the combination of different deposition techniques ; ( 2 ) the reduction of the contamination from walls cavity in which the plasma is created because the plasma is confined by magnetic field lines inside the vacuum chamber ; ( 3 ) the well - controlled energy of the plasma particles because the plasma is not extracted from a remote plasma source but the sample is immersed in the plasma during action ; and ( 4 ) by carefully biasing the substrate , the impact of ions on the substrate can be tuned and the atomic density near the substrate can be altered . the present invention is useful for plasma assisted growth . metal oxide and nitride and semiconductor nitride films are grown using the ecr microwave assisted epitaxial growth method . conventional cells are used to evaporate ga , in , al , fe , or other materials . atomic and ionic oxygen , nitrogen , or other active gases are produced by the ecr plasma source . the substrate is at the optimum temperature of growth which makes epitaxy on the substrate surface possible . in the same way , ecr active laser ablation of metal oxides , metal nitrides , carbon nitrides , and other materials can be grown in this system . the same principles are valid as for normal evaporation . the range of choice of gases is larger for ablation than for normal evaporation because most of the heating filaments in normal evaporation cells are corroded by the plasma gas . the present invention is useful for depositing a layer of superconductor material . a superconducting layer of y 1 ba 2 cu 3 o 7 - 67 ( ybco ) was grown in an oxygen - ecr plasma with an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10 - 4 torr and then &# 34 ; quenched &# 34 ; i . e . chilled as quickly as possible . the resistance of the deposited layer was measured . on rough ( roughness 5 microns ), unpolished , polycrystalline ysz ( yttrium stabilized zro 2 ) substrate , an onset temperature of 85 ° k . was obtained . the offset ( r = o ) temperature was 75 ° k . these results are the best that can be expected when using an ysz substrate . in order to prove that the reactive excited oxygen atoms and ions guarantee a sufficient oxidation of every layer , two identical ybco layers were grown using the above - mentioned device and according to the above - mentioned method . one of the layers was grown in the presence of the oxygen plasma while the other one was grown in the presence of neutral oxygen molecules . measuring the resistance showed that the first layer was superconductive while the second one was not . the partial oxygen pressure used in these experiments is measured by turning a bayert - alpert gauge to the place where the substrate is located during deposition and is maximally 5 × 10 - 4 torr . at this pressure plasma ignition is possible . electron resonance conditions are achieved at 10 cm from both sides of the substrate where the magnetic field value is 875 gauss . the plasma is transported along the magnetic fieldlines and the substrate . the 875 gauss regions act as magnetic mirrors and the plasma is confined to a cylindrical region of 50 cm long and 6 cm in diameter which is visible due to its yellow light . the present invention is further useful for low temperature fabrication of transparent conducting layers of indium - tin - oxide . indium - tin - oxide ( ito ) is an ideal contact layer for use in optical applications since it is a transparent , well conducting material . after the deposition of the indium - tin - oxide layer ( e . g ., by sputtering ), an annealing or reduction step in nitrogen is required to obtain a conducting layer . prior annealing methods have utilized a molecular n 2 gas or forming gas ( 90 % n 2 + 10 % h 2 ) environment , in which annealing temperatures of 400 ° c . to 500 ° c . are needed to provide the required thermal energy in order to dissociate the n 2 molecules into atoms that can diffuse into the ito layer . the present invention provides low temperature processing ( 20 ° c . to 150 ° c . or higher ) of the ito layer by annealing ( reduction ) in a ecr - nitrogen plasma . it appears that the diffusion mechanism to reduce the ito layer and increase its conductivity is based on an indiffusion of atomic n particles due to their lower diffusion energy than the molecule . in the prior technology , this dissociation occurs thermally at the surface of the ito layer and thus requires substantially elevated temperatures . according to the present invention , however , the dissociation occurs based on the ecr principle and is thus independent of the temperature of the ito layer . a substrate temperature of 20 ° c . to 150 ° c . or higher is sufficient because it is not used for dissociation but only to overcome the indiffusion barrier of the n atoms . as a result , the annealing or reduction process can be accomplished at a much lower substrate temperature that is compatible with low temperature processing of underlying devices . a comparison between the ecr - plasma - processed ito film and the classically high - temperature - prepared ito film shows that about the same resistivities are obtained by the present invention with a lower number of carriers but with a higher mobility . in the ecr plasma , a temperature of about 20 ° c . to 150 ° c . or higher is high enough to overcome the indiffusion barrier of the n atoms and yields resistivities as low as the values obtained by a classical annealing process in molecular n 2 or forming gas at 450 ° c . while the temperature range of 20 ° c . to 150 ° c . is preferred , elevated temperatures in the range of 150 ° c . to 200 ° c . or even 200 ° c . to 400 ° c . may also be beneficial to speed up the diffusion process . from the above description , it will be apparent that the invention disclosed herein provides a novel and advantageous thin film deposition chamber with an integrated ecr - plasma source for reactive plasma deposition and low temperature processing . the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary methods and embodiments of the present invention . as will be understood by those familiar with the art , the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . accordingly , the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative , but not limiting , of the scope of the invention , which is set forth in the following claims .