AVS 47th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS-TuP

Paper PS-TuP14
The Characteristics of Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge formed by Capillary Electrode

Tuesday, October 3, 2000, 5:30 pm, Room Exhibit Hall C & D

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: Y.H. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
Authors: Y.H. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
C.H. Jeong, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
G.Y. Yeom, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
Correspondent: Click to Email
In industrial plasma processes, vacuum systems have been generally used for thin film deposition, dry etching, and surface treatments. To remove costly vacuum systems and to apply to various other situations, low temperature plasmas generated at atmospheric pressure such as dielectric barrier discharges, atmospheric microwave discharges, etc. are actively studied in these days. In this study, the characteristics of low temperature atmospheric plasmas generated using capillary electrodes were investigated. The characteristics of the plasmas were studied as a function of capillary aspect ratios, input power, frequency of input power, electrode distance, and gas mixtures and their flow rate, using a high voltage probe(Tektrionix P6015) and current probe(Pearsonelectronics 6600). Reactive gases such as He/ O@sub 2@ were also used and their ionization and dissociation properties were investigated using a mass spectrometer and optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The voltage between electrodes measured by high voltage probe increased with the increase of input power, the increase of electrode distance, the decrease of He flow rate, and the increase of O@sub 2@ flow rate. The increase of capillary aspect ratio also increased the discharge voltage, however, more stable capillary discharge was obtained by the increased current limiting of the high aspect ratio capillary. Increased ionization and dissociation of the plasma species could be observed by OES with the increase of input power in a He/ O@sub 2@ mixture. However, with the increase of O@sub 2@ flow rate in a constant He flow rate, the emission peaks from He decreased due to the increased electron consumption by oxygen while the emission peaks from O@sub 2@ @super -@ and O increased due to the increased ionization and dissociation rates with the increase of oxygen concentration in the He/O@sub 2@ gas mixture. Using He/O@sub 2@ gas mixtures, organic materials such as photoresist could be successfully removed.