Patent · US Expired

Plasma generation apparatus with interleaved electrodes and corresponding method

US5543688A · kind A · utility

19Cited by
3References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateAug 26, 1994
Grant dateAug 6, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 26, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J37/32541
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A plasma generator having two groups of interleaved electrodes to which power is allied at high or radio frequency, to form a plasma in a region sufficiently removed from a substrate to avoid damage and unwanted exposure of the substrate to the plasma. In one embodiment of the invention, the electrodes are flat parallel plates. One group of electrodes includes all the odd-numbered plates and the other group includes all the even-numbered plates. In another embodiment of the invention, the electrodes are concentric cylinders instead of flat plates. In either case, plasma generation makes use of a relatively large electrode surface area in a small volume, and the resulting plasma is not in direct contact with the substrate being processed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.