Plasma treatment of processing gases
First Claim
1. A DBD cell comprising:
- a) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having (1) a tube wall and (2) an outside surface;
b) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube;
c) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (1) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (2) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and wherein the cell is adapted for forming a plasma inside the tube through dielectric barrier discharge such that high frequency energy is capacitively discharged through the tube wall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a DBD cell (500) including ring shaped electrodes (512 and 514) that are positioned side-by-side on a dielectric tube (516). An AC power supply (518) is provided such that the cell and the power supply form a DBD treatment device (540) for abatement of noxious gases for example FCs that can be discharged from semiconductor fabricating devices. Additionally, one or more sensors (822) and/or one or more gas addition ports (816) can be included in a DBD cell (800) of the present invention. Several DBD cells (1030, 1036 and 1042) of the present invention can be combined to form a DBD reactor (1010) of the present invention. AC power supplies (1012, 1014 and 1016) are utilized to energize the cells (1030, 1036 and 1042), forming a novel noxious gas treatment device (1000) wherein plasmas are created when gas is present inside the reactor. A DBD treatment device (1314) of the present invention can be operably connected to the gas discharge system of a semiconductor fabricating device (1310), forming a novel semiconductor processing system. Furthermore, DBD devices of the present invention (1714) can be utilized to form fluorine species for use in chemical processing methods, techniques and devices including wafer fabricating devices (1718). Additionally, DBD treatment devices of the present invention (1540, 1542 and 1544) can be integrated with vacuum pump stages (1520, 1522, 1524, 1526 and 1528) to form a novel pump integrated DBD treatment apparatus (1500).
185 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A DBD cell comprising:
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a) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having (1) a tube wall and (2) an outside surface;
b) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube;
c) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (1) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (2) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and wherein the cell is adapted for forming a plasma inside the tube through dielectric barrier discharge such that high frequency energy is capacitively discharged through the tube wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31)
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16. A DBD reactor comprising:
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a) a first DBD cell including;
(1) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having a tube wall and an outside surface, (2) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube, (3) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a first distance from the first electrode, and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and (4) wherein the first cell is adapted for forming a plasma inside the tube through dielectric barrier discharge such that high frequency energy is capacitively discharged through the tube wall; and
c) at least a second DBD cell including;
(1) the tube, (2) a third electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (3) a fourth electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the fourth electrode is positioned a second distance from the first electrode and (ii) the third and fourth electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and (4) wherein the second cell is adapted for forming a plasma inside the tube through dielectric barrier discharge such that high frequency energy is capacitively discharged through the tube wall.
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17. A DBD treatment device comprising:
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a) a first DBD cell including;
(1) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (2) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (3) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position; and
b) an AC power supply electrically connected to the first and second electrodes, such that the power supply is adapted for energizing the cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge when a gas is present inside the tube.
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25. A DBD treatment device comprising:
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a) a DBD reactor including;
(1) a first DBD cell including;
(i) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (ii) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (iii) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein the second electrode is positioned a first distance from the first electrode and wherein the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and (2) at least a second DBD cell including;
(i) the tube, (ii) a third electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (iii) a fourth electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein the fourth electrode is positioned a second distance from the third electrode and wherein the third and fourth electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position;
b) a first AC power supply electrically connected to the first and second electrodes, such that the first power supply is adapted for energizing the first cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge when a gas is present in the tube; and
c) a second AC power supply electrically connected to the third and fourth electrodes, such that the second power supply is adapted for energizing the at least second cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge when a gas is present in the tube.
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28. A pump integrated DBD treatment apparatus comprising:
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a) n vacuum pump stages; and
b) n minus 2 DBD treatment devices integrated with the n vacuum pump stages wherein each of the n minus 2 DBD treatment devices comprises at least one DBD cell including;
(1) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (2) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (3) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a first distance from the first electrode and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position and (4) an AC power supply electrically connected to the first and second electrodes, such that the power supply is adapted for energizing the cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge when a gas is present inside the tube.
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32. A semiconductor processing system comprising:
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a) a semiconductor fabricating device;
b) at least one DBD cell including;
(1) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having a tube wall and an outside surface, (2) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube;
(3) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and (4) wherein the at least one DBD cell is adapted for forming a plasma inside the tube through dielectric barrier discharge such that high frequency energy is capacitively discharged through the tube wall; and
c) a gas flow connection between the fabricating device and the tube. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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37. A semiconductor processing system comprising:
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a) a semiconductor fabricating device;
b) a DBD treatment device including;
(1) a DBD reactor having (1) a first DBD cell including;
(i) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (ii) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (iii) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein the second electrode is positioned a first distance from the first electrode and wherein the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, and (2) at least a second DBD cell including;
(i) the tube, (ii) a third electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (iii) a fourth electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein the fourth electrode is positioned a second distance from the third electrode and wherein the third and fourth electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position, (II) a first AC power supply electrically connected to the first and second electrodes such that the first power supply is adapted for energizing the first cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge, and (III) a second AC power supply electrically connected to the third and fourth electrodes such that the second power supply is adapted for energizing the second cell to form a plasma through dielectric barrier discharge; and
c) a gas flow connection between the fabricating device and the tube.
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42. A semiconductor processing system comprising:
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a) a semiconductor fabricating device;
b) a pump integrated DBD treatment apparatus comprising;
(1) n vacuum pump stages and (2) n minus 2 DBD treatment devices integrated with the n vacuum pump stages wherein each of the n minus 2 DBD treatment devices comprises at least one DBD cell including;
(i) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (ii) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube and (iii) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position and (iv) an AC power supply electrically connected to the first and second electrodes, such that the power supply is adapted for energizing the cell to form a plasma when a gas is present inside the tube; and
c) a gas flow connection between the fabricating device and the pump integrated DBD treatment apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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45. A chemical processing system comprising:
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a) a chemical processing device;
b) a DBD cell including;
(1) a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having an outside surface, (2) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube;
and (3) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position; and
c) a gas flow connection between the processing device and the tube.
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46. A method of treating a first gas, the method comprising:
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a) energizing a first DBD cell including;
a substantially cylindrical dielectric tube having (1) an inside, (2) an outside surface, (3) a first electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube, and (4) a second electrically conductive electrode positioned on the outside surface of the tube and encircling the tube, wherein (i) the second electrode is positioned a distance D from the first electrode and (ii) the first and second electrodes are placed in a side-by-side position;
b) flowing the first gas through the inside of the tube; and
c) generating a first plasma in the gas through dielectric barrier discharge inside the tube, wherein a first treated gas is formed.
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Specification