A Novel Plasma Tool for Large-Area Materials Processing

射频（RF）产生的等离子体广泛应用于工业材料加工，从飞机机翼的硬化到CPU半导体芯片内部微观特征的加工。提出的工作通过使用分布式源解决了在任意大表面积上均匀等离子体处理材料的难题：一组较小的源元素，每个源元素覆盖表面的一小部分。原理验证实验取得了成功；现在将进行优化研究，以确定尺寸不断增加的等离子体加工工具的缩放设计规则。通过控制单个源来控制大面积等离子体均匀性的可行性研究将通过对每个天线的射频功率进行反馈控制来进行。数组中相邻元素之间的间距将被改变以确定其最优值。永磁体将被用来创造单独的磁场，以提高等离子体密度，从而提高等离子体处理速率，从每根管中以可控的方式产生。还将对单个源元素本身进行进一步的优化研究，以提高它们在分布式阵列中的整体效率。成功的结果将给芯片制造商和其他使用等离子体处理的行业带来巨大的好处。所提出的工作的一个理想结果将是一套设计规则，用于任意大型等离子体工具的构建，这些工具可以保持足够的过程均匀性，以用于不断增长的等离子体加工工业。此外，目前在大面积材料表面湿化学加工中使用的高毒性物质将减少，甚至可能消除，以有利于相对良性的等离子体加工工具。

Radio-frequency (RF) produced plasmas are widely used in industry for materials processing, ranging from the hardening of airplane wings to the machining of microscopic features within CPU semiconductor chips. The proposed work addresses the difficult problem of uniform plasma processing of materials over an arbitrarily large surface area through the use of a distributed source: an array of smaller source elements, each covering a small portion of the surface. Proof of principle experiments have been successful; optimization studies will now be performed to determine the scaling design rules for plasma processing tools of ever increasing size. Feasibility studies of uniformity control of large-area plasma through control of the individual sources will be periDrmed by using feedback control of the RF power to each antenna. Spacing between adjacent elements within the array will be varied to determine its optimum value. Permanent magnets will be used to create the individual magnetic fields that can enhance the plasma density, and thus the plasma processing rate, from each tube in a controlled fashion. Further optimization studies of the individual source elements themselves will also be performed in order to increase their overall effectiveness in a distributed array.Successful results would be of tremendous benefit to chip manufacturers, and to other industries that use plasma processing as well. A desirable outcome of the proposed work would be a set of design rules for the construction of arbitrarily large plasma tools that maintain sufficient process uniformity to be of use in the ever growing plasma processing industry. Furthermore, the present use of highly toxic substances in wet chemical processing of large area material surfaces would be reduced, and perhaps eliminated, in favor of the relatively benign plasma processing tools developed as a result of this work.