The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method that manipulates the voltage at an edge ring relative to a substrate located on a substrate support located within a processing chamber. The apparatus includes a substrate support assembly that has a body having a substrate electrode embedded therein for applying a voltage to a substrate. The body of the substrate support assembly additionally has an edge ring electrode embedded therein for applying a voltage to an edge ring. The apparatus further includes an edge ring voltage control circuit coupled to the edge ring electrode. A substrate voltage control circuit is coupled to the substrate electrode. The edge ring voltage control circuit and the substrate voltage control circuit are independently tunable to generate a difference in voltage between the edge ring voltage and the substrate voltage.