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:
Dec. 09, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 12, 2002
Applicant:
Inventor:
Jaime M. Reyes, Beverly, MA (US);
Assignee:
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., Gloucester, MA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01J 2/700 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01J 2/700 ;
Abstract
An oxygen ion containing plasma is generated using a hot filament ion source. The oxygen ions in the plasma come from an oxide source (e.g., a metal oxide) which has a lower free energy of formation than that of the filament metal oxide (e.g., WO ) at the operating temperatures of the ion source. Consequently, oxidation of the filament and other metal components of the arc chamber is limited, or even prevented. Thus, the invention can advantageously lead to longer filament lives as compared to certain conventional processes that generate oxygen plasmas using hot filament sources.