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:
Jul. 15, 1997
Filed:
Apr. 01, 1996
Takahiro Kaminishizono, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Akimoto, Tokyo, JP;
NEC Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A permeable container having a plurality of holes whose diameters are equal to or less than two times the sheath length is provided in a vacuum container. provided at the bottom of this permeable container is an electrode on which an object to be processed is to be placed. A high-frequency power supply is connected to this electrode, and the permeable container is grounded. The permeable container and the electrode are insulated from each other by an insulator. When a process gas supplied into the vacuum container is guided into the permeable container through its holes and a high-frequency voltage is applied to the electrode, plasma is produced in the permeable container. Because the diameters of the holes are equal to or less than two times the sheath length, plasma is trapped inside the permeable container, thus improving the stability and density of plasma. This invention can therefore prevent plasma from becoming non-uniform and unstable and having a lower density, which, if occurred, raise a problem in the plasma process in a low-pressure area, and can efficiently trap plasma, thus ensuring uniform and high-density plasma on the to-be-processed object.