Patent · US Active

Method for removing hard carbon layers

US9230778B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
4References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 31, 2012
Grant dateJan 5, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 31, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10D62/8303
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for removing carbon layers, in particular ta-C layers, from substrate surfaces of tools and components. The substrate to be de-coated is accordingly arranged on a substrate support in a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber is charged with at least one reactive gas assisting the evacuation of carbon in gaseous form and a low-voltage plasma discharge is created in the vacuum chamber to activate the reactive gas and hence assist the required chemical reaction or reactions to de-coat the coated substrate. The low-voltage plasma discharge is a dc low-volt arc discharge, the substrate surfaces to be de-coated are bombarded substantially exclusively with electrons and oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are used as reactive gas.

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