Abstract: The apparatus comprises a tight treatment enclosure (10), means (20,22) for the axial production of a carrier gas plasma, a solid plate (30) serving as an obstacle to the plasma and located perpendicular to the enclosure axis and downstream of the plasma production means, plasma diffusion means (40) located downstream of the obstacle plate, several non-ionized vector gas supply tubes (50) issuing axially into the enclosure beneath the diffusion means and all located in the same plane around the enclosure axis, a substrate carrier (56) positioned downstream of the vector gas supply tubes and perpendicular to the axis and annular pumping means (66,16) for the gaseous medium contained in the enclosure and positioned downstream of the substrate carrier.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for etching a substrate with the aid of a gas plasma produced either by ultra-high frequency waves, or by ultra-high frequency and radio-frequency waves.In this process, the gaseous medium used for the formation of the plasma comprises at least one non-carbon-containing fluorinating gas such as SF.sub.6, at least one rare gas such as Ar and at least one non-carbon-containing oxidizing gas such as oxygen, as well as optionally another gas such as nitrogen.The invention is more particularly usable in the microelectronics field.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the impedance of the discharge in a plasma reactor system comprising a tuning box having variable capacitors is described. The impedance of the discharge is determined in dependence on a pre-established relationship between the operational positions of the variable capacitors on the one hand and the impedance of the discharge on the other. The ionic current relative to the discharge in the reactor also may be determined by taking into account the high frequency voltage of the reactor.

Abstract: Enclosure for the treatment of substrates by the reactive plasma method, consisting in a known manner of an inlet and an outlet (12) for the circulation of a reactive gas at low pressure, a base supporting the substrate (10) to be treated being placed between two electrodes, one of which (3) is at the ground potential and the other (4) or radio-frequency electrode is brought to an alternative potential such as to create an electrical discharge in the enclosure. It is characterized in that the enclosure is metallic and lined by plasma torch spraying with a protective coating (2) of alumina (Al.sub.2 0.sub.3) of a thickness of about 300 micrometers.

Abstract: The method consists in establishing the ion bombardment parameters, in varying a regulation parameter in order to initiate deposition, in measuring at each instant the total pressure drop within the vacuum chamber with respect to the initial pressure and in controlling the total pressure drop by controllably varying the regulation parameter.

Abstract: The measuring detector is constituted by the resistance of a given volume of doped semiconductor, there being formed on one face of a semiconducting monocrystal a surface region having a well-determined thickness and a well-determined concentration of doping ions and two electrical contacts at the extremities of said region.The doped surface region is obtained by ion implantation and there is formed on the second face of the monocrystal a metallic coating which has good thermal conductivity and is in good thermal contact with said second face.The detector is primarily applicable to thermometric measurements at very low temperatures below 1.degree. K.

Abstract: A liquid crystal cell is made by covering a wafer with an electrode system. A second insulating and transparent wafer is covered with a second system of semi-transparent electrodes. A wall of controlled thickness is deposited on a wafer around a periphery thereof. A metallic thread is deposited on a wafer with the same perimeter as the wall. The wafers are applied to each other and heated to fuse the thread on the top of the wall to join and seal the wafers with a liquid crystal between them within the wall.