The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 24, 1997
Filed:
May. 06, 1996
Dennis F Elwell, San Clemente, CA (US);
Charles Zarowin, Pacific Palisades, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
Passivating coatings are formed on populated electronic boards, such as a sealed chip on board electronic module, or the like, using a high density plasma deposition method that employs an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) reactor. A populated electronic board is disposed in the electron cyclotron resonance reactor. A high density nitride plasma is generated by means of electron resonance in the reactor. The plasma is formed adjacent to a magnetic field coil where an ECR condition is established. The high density plasma forms a passivating coating that covers the populated electronic board with a silicon nitride passivating layer. To form the plasma, a mixture of silane and ammonia may be injected into the reactor to produce excited atoms that form a substantially oxygen-free nitride passivating coating. The substantially oxygen-free nitride passivating coating is deposited at a relatively low temperature, typically below 150 degrees Celsius and preferably below 100 degrees Celsius so that the components of the populated board are not damaged.