AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Plasma Science and Technology Friday Sessions
       Session PS1-FrM

Paper PS1-FrM3
A Remote Microwave Plasma Source for Reactive Gas Generation

Friday, November 14, 2014, 9:00 am, Room 305

Session: Plasma Sources
Presenter: Xing Chen, MKS Instruments, Inc.
Authors: X. Chen, MKS Instruments, Inc.
I. Pokidov, MKS Instruments, Inc.
K. Wenzel, MKS Instruments, Inc.
C.X. Ji, MKS Instruments, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
A remote microwave plasma source has been developed for generation of activated gases, such as O, H, N and F. The plasma source comprises a dielectric tube surrounded by a conductive coil that serves as microwave antenna and cooling structure. A waveguide is coupled to a microwave cavity to guide the microwave energy into the plasma discharge tube. The electric field of the microwave energy is oriented such that microwave propagates along the conductive coil and deposits energy uniformly in the plasma tube. The plasma discharge tube can be made of quartz, sapphire, aluminum nitride or other dielectric materials to accommodate various gas chemistries. This paper characterizes the plasma source and its operation with O2, N2, H2, H2O, NH3, H2/N2 and H2/He gasses. Experimental measurements of plasma density and atomic gas flux of O, N, and H, using Langmuir probes, recombination probes and calorimetry, are presented. Typical plasma density is on the order of 1012 cm-3. The plasma source operates in a broad range of power and gas flow conditions. The use of microwave plasma generation, combined with crystalline plasma tube materials, significantly reduces tube erosion and associated chemical and particle contaminations.