Title :
Characterization of ultra-short pulsed discharge plasma for CVD processing
Author :
Mizuno, Akira ; Okazaki, Ken ; Takekoshi, Takashi ; Tobe, Ryoki
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Ecological Eng., Toyohashi Univ. of Technol., Japan
Abstract :
Characteristics of pulsed discharge plasma of methane-hydrogen gas mixture and Ar gas are studied for use in active control of plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing. Voltage-current characteristics, time lag of the current pulse, and the photon emission intensity profile investigated using high-voltage pulses of 50-1000 ns duration. In such a pulsed discharge, voltages much higher than those in a DC glow discharge can be applied without any plasma nonuniformity or arcing because voltage amplitude falls to zero before the glow-to-arc transition. A current value of more than 103 times those in a flow discharge can be established. Very high photon emission intensity from CH radicals and H ions are observed near the anode in a pulsed plasma. This is different in DC plasma, where the negative glow region near the cathode is the brightest
Keywords :
discharges (electric); electrodes; plasma CVD; pulse generators; 50 to 1000 ns; Ar; CVD; I-V characteristics; anode; methane-hydrogen gas mixture; photon emission intensity profile; plasma chemical vapor deposition; pulsed discharge plasma; time lag; Chemical vapor deposition; Electrodes; Glow discharges; Inductors; Plasma chemistry; Plasma materials processing; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Plasma temperature; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on