Toroidal low-field reactive gas source
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for dissociating gases comprising:
- a) confining a gas in a plasma chamber at a pressure;
b) providing a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the chamber and having a primary winding;
c) generating an AC current using a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more switching semiconductor devices and having an output that is coupled, without requiring an impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer; and
d) inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber by supplying the current, without requiring the impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer, the induced AC potential forming a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and that dissociates the gas.
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Abstract
An apparatus for dissociating gases includes a plasma chamber that may be formed from a metallic material and a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber and having a primary winding. The apparatus also includes one or more switching semiconductor devices that are directly coupled to a voltage supply and that have an output coupled to the primary winding of the transformer. The one or more switching semiconductor devices drive current in the primary winding that induces a potential inside the chamber that forms a plasma which completes a secondary circuit of the transformer.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A method for dissociating gases comprising:
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a) confining a gas in a plasma chamber at a pressure;
b) providing a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the chamber and having a primary winding;
c) generating an AC current using a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more switching semiconductor devices and having an output that is coupled, without requiring an impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer; and
d) inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber by supplying the current, without requiring the impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer, the induced AC potential forming a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and that dissociates the gas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for dissociating gases, the method comprising:
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a) confining a gas in a plasma chamber at a pressure;
b) generating an AC current using a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more switching semiconductor devices having an output that is coupled, without requiring an impedance matching network, to a primary winding of the transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber; and
c) inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber by supplying the current, without requiring the impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer, the induced AC potential directly forming a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and that dissociates the gas. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for cleaning a process chamber, the method comprising:
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a) flowing a gas in a plasma chamber at a pressure;
b) generating an AC current with a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more semiconductor transistors;
c) coupling an output of the solid state AC switching power supply, without requiring an impedance matching network, to a primary winding of a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber d) inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber by supplying the current, without requiring the impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer, the induced AC potential directly forming a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and that dissociates the gas forming chemically active species; and
e) directing the chemically active species generated by the plasma from the plasma chamber into the process chamber, thereby cleaning the process chamber. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for dissociating gases comprising:
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a) a plasma chamber comprising a gas;
b) a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber and a primary winding;
c) a gas inlet for providing a feed gas to the plasma chamber; and
d) a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more switching semiconductor devices and having an output coupled to the primary winding without requiring the use of an impedance matching network, the AC switching power supply supplying an AC current to the primary winding without requiring the use of the impedance matching network, the AC current inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber that directly forms a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and dissociates the feed gas. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A downstream plasma source comprising:
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a) a metallic plasma chamber coupled to a process chamber having a material disposed therein;
b) at least one dielectric region that forms an electrical discontinuity that substantially prevents induced current flow from forming in the plasma chamber itself;
c) a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber and a primary winding;
d) a gas inlet for providing a feed gas to the plasma chamber; and
e) a solid state AC switching power supply comprising one or more switching semiconductor devices and having an output coupled to the primary winding without requiring the use of an impedance matching network, the AC switching power supply an AC current to the primary winding without requiring the use of the impedance matching network, the AC current inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber that directly forms a toroidal plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and dissociates the feed gas, the dissociated feed gas flowing downstream into the process chamber for processing the material disposed therein. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A method for reducing surface erosion in a plasma chamber of a reactive gas source, the method comprising:
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confining a gas in a plasma chamber;
providing a transformer having a magnetic core surrounding a portion of the plasma chamber and having a primary winding;
inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber by supplying an AC current generated by a solid state AC switching power supply, without requiring the use of a conventional impedance matching network, to the primary winding of the transformer;
forming a toroidal plasma inside the plasma chamber that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and that dissociates the gas; and
operating the reactive gas source with an electric field of the plasma being substantially between 1 and 100 volts per centimeter in the plasma chamber. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A reactive gas source for dissociating gases in a toroidal plasma comprising:
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a plasma chamber for containing a gas, the plasma chamber comprising at least one of a metallic material and a coated metallic material and having at least one dielectric spacer that electrically isolates the plasma chamber into a plurality of portions to prevent induced current flow from forming in the plasma chamber itself, the dielectric spacer being protected from the plasma by a protrusion in the plasma chamber;
at least one transformer having a primary winding and having a magnetic core surrounding at least a portion of the plasma chamber; and
a solid state AC switching power supply supplying an AC current to the primary winding without requiring the use of an impedance matching network, the AC current inducing an AC potential inside the plasma chamber that forms the plasma that completes a secondary circuit of the transformer and dissociates the gas. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A plasma chamber for use with a reactive gas source comprising:
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an inlet for receiving a gas;
at least one plasma chamber wall for containing the gas, the plasma chamber wall comprising at least one of a metallic material and coated metallic material;
at least one dielectric spacer that electrically isolates the plasma chamber into a plurality of portions to prevent induced current flow from forming in the plasma chamber itself, the dielectric spacer being protected from a plasma formed in the plasma chamber by a protrusion on the plasma chamber wall; and
cooling channels for passing a fluid that controls the temperature of the plasma chamber. - View Dependent Claims (48)
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49. A toroidal plasma chamber for use with a reactive gas source comprising:
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an inlet for receiving a gas;
one or more chamber walls for containing the gas, the chamber walls comprising at least one of a metallic material, coated metallic material and dielectric material; and
at least one dielectric spacer that electrically isolates a region of the plasma chamber to prevent induced current flow from forming in the plasma chamber itself, the at least one dielectric spacer being protected from a plasma formed in the plasma chamber by a protrusion on the plasma chamber wall.
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Specification