Ferrotec Corporation

Other

Yuichi Shiina

Hirofumi Takikawa

Iwao Watanabe

Electrically charged droplets and neutral droplets mixed with plasma are removed with better efficiency, and an improvement in the surface treatment precision of film formation by high purity plasma is sought. In a plasma processing apparatus including plasma generating portion A, plasma transport tube B and plasma processing portion C, an insulator interposed plasma processing apparatus is constituted in which plasma transport tube B is made electrically independent from plasma generating portion A and plasma processing portion C electrically by interposing insulator IS and insulator IF between the starting end side and the finishing end side of the plasma transport tube. Plasma transport tube B is divided into multiple small transport tubes BBthrough intermediate insulator IIand each small transport tube is made independent electrically. The electric potential of the plasma transport tube or the small transport tubes is set to GND, a variable positive electric potential, or a variable negative electric potential, by putting the plasma transport tube or the multiple small transport tubes in an electric floating state, or connecting bias power supplies EBEBfor transport tube. Also, the small transport tubes are connected in a bent manner, and droplets are removed by the geometric structure.

Insulator interposed type plasma processing apparatus

A plasma stream-derived deposited matter formed on an annular rib for droplet capture in a plasma processing apparatus is prevented from falling into a plasma generation portion and causing a short circuit. The annular rib for the droplet capture is divided into multiple rib segments. Thus, from the beginning of the formation of the deposited matter on the annular rib due to the aggregation of the material in the plasma stream, it is possible to reduce the size of the deposited matter. By reducing the size of this deposited matter, when a piece of the deposited matter falls into the plasma generation portion, the piece of the deposited matter gets into a groove portion provided between a cathode and a wall surface of the plasma generation portion, thereby preventing the electrical short circuit between the cathode and the wall surface.

Divided annular rib type plasma processing apparatus

A plasma processing apparatus using a plasma generating apparatus by which droplets mixed in plasma can be efficiently removed and surface processing precision can be improved in film formation wherein high purity plasma is used. A droplet removing portion arranged in a plasma advancing path is composed of a straight plasma advancing tube (P) connected to a plasma generating portion (A); a first plasma advancing tube (P) connected to the straight plasma advancing tube (P) in a bent manner; a second plasma advancing tube (P) connected to a finishing end of the first plasma advancing tube (P) by being inclinedly arranged at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the tube axis of the first plasma advancing tube; and a third plasma advancing tube (P), which is connected to the finishing end of the second plasma advancing tube (P) in a bent manner and discharges plasma from a plasma outlet.

Plasma generating apparatus and plasma processing apparatus

A device for removing droplets in a plasma generator including a tubular traveling passage through which plasma and droplets travel under mixed state is formed, an aperture having a passing hole at an eccentric position is provided in the tubular traveling passage, and a magnetic field generator passing the plasma through the eccentric passing hole of the aperture arranged on an outer circumference of the tubular traveling passage. The plasma further passes through the eccentric passing hole of the aperture after being bent in the tubular traveling passage by a magnetic field generated from the magnetic field generator and the droplets are removed by colliding against the wall face of the aperture at the time of bending.

Droplet removing device and method in plasma generator

A plasma generator for forming a thin film comprises a cathode () for supplying constituent particles of an arc plasma and a trigger-and-anode () for starting and sustaining the arc plasma. The cathode surface () of the cathode () is flat or finely irregular, and the anode surface () of the trigger-and-anode () brought into contact with the cathode surface () is flat. The anode surface () is so arranged as to be brought into contact with the whole cathode surface () when plasma is started. The contact point between a fine projection end () of the cathode surface () and the anode surface () is made a plasma emission point. When the projection is consumed by plasma emission, another projection end which can be brought into contact with the anode surface () is used as another plasma emission point, thus enabling intermittent operation of persistently repeating the sequence operation.

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Chuo-ku, Japan

Yuichi Shiina