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Use of Variable Frequency Microwave Energy as a Flexible Plasma Tool

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

A. C. Johnson ,
R. A. Rudder ,
W. A. Lewis  and
R. C. Hendry
A. C. Johnson
Affiliation:
Microwave Laboratories, Inc., 8917 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27612
R. A. Rudder
Affiliation:
Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
W. A. Lewis
Affiliation:
Microwave Laboratories, Inc., 8917 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27612
R. C. Hendry
Affiliation:
Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
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Abstract

This paper reports on the use of frequency as a control parameter in the generation of microwave-excited plasmas for applications such as chemical vapor deposition, chemical vapor infiltration, or plasma etching. By changing the excitation frequency of a plasma in a multi-mode chamber, the locations of the maxima and minima of the power density within the chamber are also changed. This allows localization of the plasma discharge in the precise processing area desired in order to increase the process' efficiency. In a similar fashion, sweeping of the processing frequency during the process cycle can theoretically “scan” the plasma across an arbitrarily-shaped target surface. A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the flexibility of variable frequency microwave energy as a plasma process tool. The results of these tests are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 347: Symposium O – Microwave Processing of Materials IV , 1994 , 617
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

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References

REFERENCES

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