Abstract: A disc-shaped plasma, generated by a ring-shaped cold cathode is used both as an in-situ large area (10-20 cm in diameter) VUV lamp and as a source of ground state and excited atoms. The atoms created in the disc-shaped plasma may be used for initiating sensitized atom-molecule reactions in the volume that dissociate the molecules as well as for providing external energy to heterogenous surface reactions. Multiple grid electrodes are used to extract ions or electrons from the plasma during the deposition process. The disc-shaped plasma is of narrow width which is optically thin for resonance photons emitted in a direction perpendicular to the disc to minimize undesired resonance trapping and associated line reversal. This VUV lamp operates without the need for optical windows; hence, ground state and excited atoms, created in the disc-shaped plasma, can diffuse from the disc-shaped plasma toward the substrate.

Abstract: A process for large area hardening of photoresists or polymer films placed on substrates is disclosed. The process requires the use of a short duration (<1 us.) pulsed electron beam produced in soft vacuum by an abnormal glow discharge. The pulsed electron beam interacts with the patterned photoresist/polymer resist so as to harden or stabilize the patterns thereon by electron induced cross-linking. The use of a soft vacuum environment allows for both thermal as well as chemically induced hardening.

Abstract: A cold cathode glow discharge electron gun operating in the abnormal glow region produces a wide area collimated electron beam employed for flood exposure of thin film materials through electron beam transmission masks, resulting in spatially localized exposure and patterning of the thin film materials.

Abstract: A cold cathode for generating an abnormal glow discharge electron beam within a vacuum chamber is mounted to a wall of the vacuum chamber such that only the emitting front face of the cold cathode, itself electrically insulated from the vacuum chamber wall by a narrow gap therebetween, is located inside the vacuum chamber, while the remainder of the cold cathode is located outside the vacuum chamber.

Abstract: An open wide area vacuum ultraviolet lamp for use in microelectronics processing applications employes a ring-shaped cold cathode to produce a trapped electron beam discharge of generally disc-shaped cross section in a low pressure molecular gas environment and without the use of VUV windows.

Abstract: Apparatus for generating multiply charged ions from a source of wide area for use in ion implantation is based upon electron beam plasma interactions which more efficiently create a large density of multiply ionized species than conventional plasma sources over a wide area (1-20 cm in diameter). The beam electrons are generated from a glow discharge electron gun operating in the abnormal glow discharge state. More multiply ionized species are created because of the larger number of electrons at high energy present in a beam created discharge as compared to conventional hollow cathode or thermionic cathode ion sources. By using a ring-shaped cold cathode beam electron generator it is possible to realize a wide area source 2-20 cm in diameter. This multiple ion source permits the realization of a fixed ion implantation energy using a lower electrostatic potential because multiply ionized species are accelerated rather than singly ionized species.