Generated By Microwave (i.e., 1mm To 1m) Patents (Class 427/575)
  • Patent number: 6432492
    Abstract: An Rf plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) coating chamber for coating a planar dielectric substrate with a metallic layer or a plane dielectric substrate covered with a metallic layer. A reaction space is provided within the chamber and is confined between at least a flat metallic first electrode surface of a first electrode, and a second electrode surface. A substrate holder arrangement holds a substrate flat onto the first electrode surface and completely covers the first electrode with the first electrode surface towards the reaction space. The first and second electrode surface are connected to a source of Rf power. A dielectric substrate is coated with a metallic layer or a dielectric substrate covered with a metallic layer by an Rf-PECVD coating process. The substrate is deposited on a first electrode surface within a coating chamber, thereby completely covering the electrode surface by the dielectric substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: Unaxis Balzers Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Juergen Weichart
  • Publication number: 20020098297
    Abstract: The present invention is related to a method of crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer and a crystallizing apparatus thereof which crystallize an amorphous silicon layer using of electric fields and plasma. The present invention includes the steps of depositing an inducing substance for silicon crystallization on an amorphous silicon layer by plasma exposure, and carrying out annealing on the amorphous silicon layer while applying an electric field to the amorphous silicon layer. The present invention includes a chamber having an inner space, a substrate support in the chamber wherein the substrate support supports a substrate, a plasma generating means in the chamber wherein the plasma generating means produces plasma inside the chamber, an electric field generating means in the chamber wherein the electric field generating means applies electric field to the substrate, and a heater at the substrate support wherein the heater supplies the substrate with heat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 1999
    Publication date: July 25, 2002
    Inventors: JIN JANG, SOO-YOUNG YOON, JAE-YOUNG OH, WOO-SUNG SHON, SEONG-JIN PARK
  • Patent number: 6423383
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus and method is equipped with a reaction chamber, a microwave generator for generating a microwave within the reaction chamber, and main and auxiliary magnets for producing a magnetic filed parallel with microwave propagation direction. The auxiliary magnet is located along the wall of the reaction chamber so as to strengthen the magnetic filed at the periphery of the reaction chamber. A reactive gas containing a carbon compound gas is introduced into the chamber wherein the reactive gas is converted into a plasma by a resonance using the microwaves and the magnetic field. The presence of the auxiliary magnet produces a centrifugal drifting force within the reaction chamber, thereby confining the plasma gas to the center of the chamber. A substrate is then placed within the chamber and a film comprising amorphous carbon is deposited thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Hirose, Takashi Inujima, Toru Takayama
  • Patent number: 6391394
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which an aluminum substrate is fitted on a substrate holder and a functional film comprising a non-monocrystalline material containing silicon atoms as the matrix is formed by low pressure chemical deposition on the surface of the substrate, which comprises surface of the substrate is cleaned with water in which carbon dioxide is dissolved, the substrate holder comprises a metal as the matrix and has formed ceramics at least on the inner surface. This method and a jig used therein make it possible to prevent fine image defects, thereby improving electrophotography characteristics, and to economically and stably manufacture electrophotographic photosensitive members which provide high quality images free from defects and unevenness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshiyasu Shirasuna, Yoshio Segi, Hiroyuki Katagiri
  • Patent number: 6391396
    Abstract: Chemical vapor deposition coating is carried out in a cylindrical cavity. The fibers are heated by a microwave source that is uses a TM0N0 mode, where O is an integer, and produces a field that depends substantially only on radius. The fibers are observed to determine their heating, and their position can be adjusted. Once the fibers are uniformly heated, a CVD reagent is added to process the fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Martin B. Barmatz, Gordon Hoover, Henry W. Jackson
  • Patent number: 6383573
    Abstract: A process is provided for producing coated synthetic bodies during which, before the coating, the surface to be coated is subjected to a pretreatment in an excited gas atmosphere. The surface is then coated. The gas atmosphere is predominantly formed of a noble gas and nitrogen and/or hydrogen, and the ionic energy in the gas atmosphere and in the are of the surface to be coated is not more than 50 eV. The ionic energy is selected to be not more than 20 eV, preferable not more than 10 eV. The gas atmosphere is excited by means of a plasma discharge or by means of UV radiation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Unaxis Balzers Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Eugen Beck, Jürgen Ramm, Heinrich Zimmermann
  • Publication number: 20020051847
    Abstract: A process for depositing titanium nitride films containing less than 5% carbon impurities and less than 10% oxygen impurities by weight via chemical vapor deposition is disclosed. Sheet resistance of the deposited films is generally be within a range of about 1 to 10 ohms per square. The deposition process takes place in a deposition chamber that has been evacuated to less than atmospheric pressure and utilizes the organo-metallic compound tertiary-butyltris-dimethylamido-titanium and a nitrogen source as precursors. The deposition temperature, which is dependent on the nitrogen source, is within a range of 350° C. to 700° C. The low end of the temperature range utilizes nitrogen-containing gases such as diatomic nitrogen, ammonia, hydrazine, amides and amines which have been converted to a plasma. The higher end of the temperature range relies on thermal decomposition of the nitrogen source for the production of reaction-sustaining radicals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2001
    Publication date: May 2, 2002
    Inventor: Salman Akram
  • Patent number: 6376028
    Abstract: The described device is introduced into a plastic container with a narrow opening and serves a plasma enhanced process for treating the inside surface of the container. The device (2) extends between the container opening and the container bottom along the container axis (X) and comprising a gas feed tube (23) for feeding a process gas into the container and permanent magnets (24) for establishing a stationary magnetic field inside the container. The magnets (24) form a column of superimposed magnets which is arranged inside the gas feed tube (23). The north and south poles of each magnet are positioned on opposite sides of the container axis (X). The device may also comprise cooling means (25) for cooling the gas feed tube and the magnets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
    Inventors: Jacques Laurent, Pierre Fayet, Robert Devidal
  • Patent number: 6375860
    Abstract: The occurrence of internally-formed contaminants or negatively-charged particulates within a plasma is minimized by preventing such from becoming trapped in the plasma. The plasma is formed in a plasma chamber having control electrodes and reference electrodes. The control electrodes are biased with a negative potential. The plasma assumes a potential more positive than the control electrodes. The reference electrodes are then biased to be more positive than the plasma. Hence, negative ions or negatively-charged particulates in the plasma are attracted to the more positive reference electrodes, and thus escape the plasma without being trapped therein, and are not available to serve as nucleation or agglomeration points for contaminants. A pair of Helmholtz coils produce a magnetic field having magnetic field lines that run longitudinally between the control electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: General Atomics
    Inventors: Tihiro Ohkawa, Stanley I. Tsunoda
  • Patent number: 6372304
    Abstract: A high quality transparent SiC thin film can be deposited on the surface of a plastic material at low temperature utilizing Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) Plasma CVD techniques, thereby enhancing surfacial hardness without spoiling designability. A magnetic field is applied to a plasma generating chamber by means of a surrounding magnetic coil. Microwaves are then introduced into the plasma generating chamber. Further, an upstream gas is introduced into the plasma generating chamber. ECR plasma is thus generated. A downstream gas is then supplied to the chamber from an inlet. Furthermore, the ECR plasma is passed through a mesh placed between the inlet and a polymer base material or between the plasma generating chamber and the inlet. Accordingly, a SiC film is deposited on a surface of a polymer base material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: Suzuki Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichiro Sano, Masaya Nomura, Hiroaki Tamamaki, Yoshinori Hatanaka
  • Patent number: 6372305
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for performing Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (PCVD), whereby one or more layers of silica can be deposited on an elongated vitreous substrate, the apparatus comprising an elongated microwave guide which emerges into a resonant cavity which is substantially cylindrically symmetric about a cylindrical axis, along which axis the substrate can be positioned, in which apparatus: the cavity is substantially annular in form, with an inner cylindrical wall and an outer cylindrical wall; the inner cylindrical wall comprises a slit which extends in a full circle around the cylindrical axis; the guide has a longitudinal axis which is substantially perpendicular to the cylindrical axis and which does not intercept the slit. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an optical fiber, a preform rod and a jacket tube using said apparatus as well as to the thus obtained optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: Plasma Optical Fibre B.V.
    Inventors: Antonius Henricus Elisabeth Breuls, Mattheus Jacobus Nicolaas Van Stralen, Andries Heero Van Bergen
  • Patent number: 6358562
    Abstract: A method for producing coated particles includes the steps of converting particles consisting of a compound of one of (a) a metal with a non-metal or (b) a semi-metal with a non-metal to an aerosol form; contacting the particles in aerosol form with a gas including at least one aromatic compound; and guiding the particles in aerosol form together with the gas through a plasma zone of a microwave plasma. The at least one aromatic compound is preferably selected from the group consisting of benzol, benzol derivatives, naphthalene, and naphthalene derivatives. The gas preferable further includes at least one metallocene which is preferably selected from the group consisting of ferrocene or magnesocene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH
    Inventors: Dieter Vollath, Vinga Szabo, Bernd Seith
  • Publication number: 20020028304
    Abstract: A method is provided for making a blow molded multi-layer container having an upper wall portion, including an opening; an intermediate sidewall portion positioned beneath the upper wall portion; and a base portion positioned beneath the intermediate sidewall portion. The container includes (i) a molded inner layer formed from a plastic material, the inner layer having a vertical length and a carbon-treated inner surface; and (ii) a molded outer layer formed from recycled plastic that is substantially coextensive with the inner layer. The recycled outer layer comprises at least 40% by weight of the overall weight of the container, but can comprise more than 90% by weight. In a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the inner and/or outer layers is controllably adjusted along their respective vertical lengths. If functionally desirable, the inner layer and/or outer layer may also include additional barrier materials and/or oxygen scavenging/reacting materials.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2001
    Publication date: March 7, 2002
    Applicant: Plastipak Packaging, Inc.
    Inventor: William A. Slat
  • Patent number: 6348158
    Abstract: In a plasma processing method, a plasma is generated using a process gas, and an electron beam is injected into the plasma to control an electron energy distribution in the plasma. Then, a semiconductor substrate is processed using the plasma with controlled electron energy distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2002
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Seiji Samukawa
  • Patent number: 6346303
    Abstract: The present invention provides a process for synthesizing one-dimensional nanosubstances. A membrane having channels serves as the host material for the synthesis. The anodic membrance is brought into contact with a microwave excited plasma of a precursor gas using an electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD) system. Parallel aligned nanosubstances can be synthesized in the channels of the membrane over a large area. Carbon nitride nanosubstances are synthesized successfully for the first time in the present invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2002
    Inventors: Han-Chang Shih, Shing-Li Sung, Shang-Hua Tsai
  • Publication number: 20020005170
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for forming a diamond film from microwave plasma by controlling a manufacturing condition based on spectroscopic measurement of plasma emission to obtain a large area of a high-quality diamond film. In the method of forming a diamond film, a gas mixture of hydrocarbon gas and hydrogen gas is introduced into a reactor, where the gas mixture is excited by microwave which is also introduced into the reactor to generate plasma, and the light emitted from the plasma is spectroscopically measured. Furthermore, a formation condition of the diamond film is controlled such that the spectrum of a carbon molecule (C2) falls within a predetermined range of requirement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2001
    Publication date: January 17, 2002
    Inventors: Kiichi Meguro, Takashi Matsuura, Takahiro Imai
  • Patent number: 6338881
    Abstract: A method for applying a diamond-like coating to at least one substrate includes arranging at least one substrate in a reaction chamber so that field lines extend between the at least one substrate and a ground electrode and perpendicularly intersect a clamping surface defined by the at least one substrate or the field lines perpendicularly intersect the clamping surface at an end of the at least one substrate closest to the clamping surface; and applying a diamond-like layer to the at least one substrate by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition by exciting a deposition gas atmosphere with electromagnetic radiation and producing an electrical bias voltage between the substrate and at least one ground electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Saxonia Umformtechnik GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Sellschopp, Guenther Durst, Stefan Krall
  • Patent number: 6338880
    Abstract: A process for depositing titanium nitride films containing less than 5% carbon impurities and less than 10% oxygen impurities by weight via chemical vapor deposition is disclosed. Sheet resistance of the deposited films is generally be within a range of about 1 to 10 ohms per square. The deposition process takes place in a deposition chamber that has been evacuated to less than atmospheric pressure and utilizes the organometallic compound tertiary-butyltris-dimethylamido-titanium and a nitrogen source as precursors. The deposition temperature, which is dependent on the nitrogen source, is within a range of 350° C. to 700° C. The low end of the temperature range utilizes nitrogen-containing gases such as diatomic nitrogen, ammonia, hydrazine, amides and amines which have been converted to a plasma. The higher end of the temperature range relies on thermal decomposition of the nitrogen source for the production of reaction-sustaining radicals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Salman Akram
  • Patent number: 6337110
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for electron cyclotron resonance plasma deposition of electron-emitting carbon films, in which by injecting a microwave power into a plasma chamber incorporating an electron cyclotron resonance zone (9), ionization takes place of a gaseous mixture under a low pressure, the thus created ions and electrons diffusing along the magnetic field lines (6) to a substrate (3), the gaseous mixture comprising organic molecules and hydrogen molecules. Said process comprises the following stages: heating the substrate (3), creating a plasma from the ionized gaseous mixture, creating a potential difference between the plasma and the substrate, diffusion of the plasma up to the substrate (3) which, by heating, has reached a temperature such that said electron-emitting material is deposited on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2002
    Assignee: Commissariat a l′ Energie Atomique
    Inventors: Marc Delaunay, Marie-Noëlle Semeria
  • Patent number: 6329024
    Abstract: Devices, and their method of production, having coatings deposited by pulsed plasma polymerization of a macrocycle containing a heteroatom, wherein the heteroatom is oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or a mixture thereof. The coatings on contact lens are preferably deposited by gas phase polymerization of a cyclic ether, such as crown ether, which coatings are non-fouling and wettable, and the gas phase polymerization utilizes a pulsed discharge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2001
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Richard B. Timmons, Yuliang Wu
  • Publication number: 20010048981
    Abstract: The present invention provides a plasma processing method of conducting plasma processing such as CVD, etching or ashing that can reduce an exhaust time to increase the speed of the entire processing, which method comprises using as a ventilation gas a gas containing at least one component (O2, N2, CF4 or the like) of a plasma processing gas, exhausting the ventilation gas, when a pressure reaches a plasma processing pressure value by the exhaust, introducing the plasma processing gas so as to maintain the plasma processing pressure and starting plasma processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 1998
    Publication date: December 6, 2001
    Inventor: NOBUMASA SUZUKI
  • Patent number: 6326064
    Abstract: A process for reducing intrinsic stress and/or hydrogen content of a SiOx film grown by chemical vapor deposition. The process is applicable to plasma-enhanced and electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition of silicon dioxide wherein a vapor phase etchant is introduced while growing the silicon dioxide film. The presence of the etchant during the plasma deposition process allows for selective removal of high energy silicon dioxide molecules in the growing film thus reducing intrinsic stress within the film. The use of halogen etchants further reduces the amount of hydrogen present as hydroxyl within the film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2001
    Assignee: LAM Research Corporation
    Inventors: Dean R. Denison, Mark Weise
  • Patent number: 6309713
    Abstract: A layer of tungsten nitride is deposited on the upper surface of a wafer. The deposition is performed by providing a gaseous mixture and providing energy to the gaseous mixture to form a plasma. The gaseous mixture includes a first gaseous composition containing tungsten and a second gaseous composition containing nitrogen and hydrogen. The second gaseous composition is one that does not have a gas phase reaction with the first gaseous composition to form tungsten nitride, unless energy is provided to the gaseous mixture. The first gaseous composition may be tungsten hexafluoride (WF6). The gaseous mixture may be infused with energy to form a plasma by providing it with energy from an rf signal. In the plasma, the nitrogen dissociates into nitrogen ions, and the tungsten separates from the fluorine. The nitrogen ions and tungsten then combine to form tungsten nitride (W2N), which deposits on the wafer's upper surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Alfred Mak, Ling Chen, David C. Smith, Mei Chang, Steve Ghanayem
  • Patent number: 6306765
    Abstract: A film formation method which comprises the steps of forming a high melting metal film on a substrate to cover an insulating pattern formed on the substrate therewith, and forming on the surface of the high melting metal film a high melting metal nitride film or a high melting oxide nitride film. The high melting metal film in the first step is formed by a chemical vapor deposition process, after which the high melting metal nitride or high melting metal oxide nitride film is continuously formed by the chemical vapor deposition process. During the CVD processes in the first and second steps, the substrate may be applied with an RF bias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2001
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Junichi Sato
  • Publication number: 20010025607
    Abstract: Plasma reactor having a generally cylindrical reaction chamber which is substantially greater in diameter than in height, a generally cylindrical waveguide which is aligned axially with the reaction chamber, and a window which separates the waveguide from the reaction chamber and permits microwave energy to pass from the waveguide to chamber to ionize gas and form a plasma in the chamber. In some embodiments, the microwave energy is applied initially in pulses and thereafter as a continuous wave in order to avoid the need for retuning upon ignition of the plasma, and in others the need for retuning is avoided by the use of fins which lock in a desired mode of operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Publication date: October 4, 2001
    Inventors: Tony Lebar, Fan Cheung Sze, John T. Davies
  • Patent number: 6296895
    Abstract: A pure metal is vaporized in a receiver, and a quantity of oxygen slightly substoichiometric for the oxide is introduced. To determine the thickness of the layer deposited on the film and to control the vaporization rate, optical sensors are installed in an area where the layer, because of the presence of unoxidized metal, has sufficient absorption for optical measurement. After the determination of the transparency by the sensors, the layer is subjected to a secondary oxidation process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2001
    Assignee: Balzers und Leybold Deutschland Holding AG
    Inventors: Gerhard Steiniger, Rainer Ludwig, Gerd Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 6284674
    Abstract: Disclosed is a plasma process apparatus which permits generating microwaves and a magnetic field so as to bring about electron cyclotron resonance and, thus, to generate a plasma which is applied to a semiconductor wafer, comprising microwave generating means for generating said microwaves, microwave transmitting means for transmitting the microwaves, a process chamber having said semiconductor wafer arranged therein, the microwaves being introduced into said process chamber through said microwave transmitting means, process gas supply means for supplying a process gas into said process chamber, and magnetic field generating means for generating a magnetic field within the process chamber. The frequency of the microwave falls within a range between a lower limit of a cutoff frequency determined by the inner diameter of the process chamber and an upper limit of a maximum frequency at which a standing wave of the microwave does not occur on the surface of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited, Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Toraguchi, Satoru Kawakami
  • Patent number: 6277449
    Abstract: A method of producing radio frequency discharge plasma film layers having a three-dimensional functional film network. The plasma film layers include a first layer, comprising a plurality of a first functional group, and a second layer, comprising a plurality of a second functional group. The employment of three-dimensional film networks with desired functional groups located either on the periphery or both the periphery and interstitial spaces of the networks provides means for significantly increasing the surface functional density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2001
    Inventors: Omprakash S. Kolluri, Robert G. Johanson
  • Patent number: 6271148
    Abstract: An apparatus and methods for an upgraded CVD system providing a remote plasma for efficiently cleaning a chamber, according to a specific embodiment. Etching or depositing a layer onto a substrate also may be achieved using the upgraded CVD system of the present invention. In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides apparatus for an easily removable, conveniently handled, and relatively inexpensive, robust microwave plasma source as a retrofit for or a removable addition to existing CVD apparatus. The present invention provides an improved CVD apparatus or retrofit of existing CVD apparatus capable of producing a remote plasma for efficiently cleaning the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Chien-Teh Kao, Kenneth Tsai, Quyen Pham, Ronald L. Rose, Calvin R. Augason, Joseph Yudovsky
  • Patent number: 6260510
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for performing Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (PCVD), whereby one or more layers of silica can be deposited on an elongated vitreous substrate, the apparatus comprising an elongated microwave guide which emerges into a resonant cavity which is substantially cylindrically symmetric about a cylindrical axis, along which axis the substrate can be positioned, in which apparatus: the cavity is substantially annular in form, with an inner cylindrical wall and an outer cylindrical wall; the inner cylindrical wall comprises a slit which extends in a full circle around the cylindrical axis; the guide has a longitudinal axis which is substantially perpendicular to the cylindrical axis and which does not intercept the slit. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an optical fiber, a preform rod and a jacket tube using said apparatus as well as to the thus obtained optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2001
    Assignee: Plasma Optical Fibre B.V.
    Inventors: Antonius Henricus Elisabeth Breuls, Mattheus Jacobus Nicolaas Van Stralen, Andries Heero Van Bergen
  • Publication number: 20010007245
    Abstract: A HF plasma treatment chamber is provided for at least one dielectric substrate. A HF generator for the plasma discharge, a coupling-in arrangement connected with the generating for supplying HF energy into the chamber, and at least one substrate receiving device defining a receiving surface for the substrate comprise the chamber. The generator is operatively connected with the chamber by way of a dielectric layer. The chamber is a coating chamber and, for the coating of a metallic surface of at least one dielectric substrate and/or the coating of at least one dielectric substrate with a metallic layer. The receiving device as well as the HF connection to the generator are arranged such that the HF discharge current circuit is connected with the chamber by way of the dielectric substrate as the capacitive coupling-in element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 1998
    Publication date: July 12, 2001
    Applicant: UNAXIS BALZERS AG
    Inventor: JUERGEN WEICHART
  • Patent number: 6248440
    Abstract: A method for obtaining a floor covering comprising one or more resilient polymer substrates coated with a protective layer is described, wherein said layer contains one or more amorphous inorganic components and has a Vickers hardness of more than 1 GPa and a modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) of less than 80 GPa, using a delayed cold plasma that induces a decomposition reaction of a volatile precursor compound so that a thin film of said amorphous inorganic component is formed on said substrate. A floor covering comprising one or more resilient polymer substrates obtained by the method of the invention is also described, wherein the substrate is coated with a protective layer containing one or more amorphous inorganic components and with a Vickers harness of more than 1 GPa and a modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) of less than 80 GPa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: Sommer Revetements France S. A.
    Inventors: Emmanuelle Baclez, Brigitte Mutel, Odile Dessaux, Pierre Goudmand
  • Patent number: 6203898
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for the formation of an organic coating on a substrate. The method includes: providing a substrate in a vacuum; providing at least one vaporized organic material comprising at least one component from at least one source, wherein the vaporized organic material is capable of condensing in a vacuum of less than about 130 Pa; providing a plasma 10 from at least one source other than the source of the vaporized organic material; directing the vaporized organic material and the plasma toward the substrate; and causing the vaporized organic material to condense and polymerize on the substrate in the presence of the plasma to form an organic coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: 3M Innovatave Properties Company
    Inventors: Gunter A. Kohler, William H. Esswein, Seth M. Kirk, Brian J. Gates
  • Patent number: 6200651
    Abstract: A dielectric layer is deposited on a workpiece by a chemical vapor deposition method in an electron cyclotron resonance vacuum plasma processor having a plasma chamber responsive to a repetitively pulsed microwave field and gases from a plasma source. A reaction chamber responds to at least one reacting gas containing at least one element that chemically reacts in the presence of the plasma with at least one element in at least one of the gases from the plasma source to form the deposited layer on the workpiece. The turn off periods are long enough to cause electrons in the plasma on the deposited dielectric layer to be cooled sufficiently (from about 3.5 eV to a lower value having a minimum value of about 0.1 eV) to reduce the tendencies for opposite polarity charges to be established across the deposited dielectric layer and for damaging discharge current to flow across the deposited dielectric layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Gregory A. Roche, William R. Harshbarger
  • Patent number: 6197234
    Abstract: To increase the anti-wettability of a body vis a vis a fluid the body is subjected in a treatment enclosure to a post-discharge nitrogen plasma. A fluorinated vapor is fed into the plasma on the input side or on the output side of the discharge cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: Conte SA
    Inventors: Pierre Goudmand, Odile Dessaux, Jean-Denis Quensierre, Vincent Bedhome, Philippe Chavatte, José Duez
  • Patent number: 6180189
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for aluminum nitride coating of cylinder contact surfaces (ZL) of a crankcase (KG) made of an aluminum basic alloy where the aluminum nitride coating is performed by surface nitriding of the aluminum basic alloy, and the activated nitrogen is generated by a high-pressure plasma process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2001
    Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventors: Juergen Steinwandel, Joerg Hoeschele, Theodor Staneff, Axel Heuberger
  • Patent number: 6177148
    Abstract: The invention concerns a plasma CVD system (in particular a plasma pulse CVD system) with an array of microwave antennas. According to the invention, in order to improve the homogeneity of the layer, interference is prevented by controlling adjacent antennas in a chronologically offset manner. To that end, microcapsules are provided within the macrocapsules of the plasma pulse CVD process. Additionally, the uniformity of the layer deposition at the interfaces between adjacent modules can be optimized by radio-frequency excitation by means of suitable electrodes, magnetic fields or the configuration of the gas inlets. The surface coated in an operating cycle can thus be scaled as required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2001
    Assignee: Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
    Inventors: Marten Walther, Wolfgang Möhl, Burkhard Danielzik, Markus Kuhr, Roland Hochhaus, Hartmut Bauch, Martin Heming, Thomas K{umlaut over (u)}pper, Lars Bewig
  • Patent number: 6171454
    Abstract: Described is a method for coating surfaces using a facility having sputtering electrodes, which has at least two electrodes that are spaced apart from one another and arranged inside a process chamber, and an inlet for a process gas. The two sputtering electrodes are acted upon by a bipolarly pulsed voltage in such a way that they are alternately operated as cathodes and as anodes. In addition, the frequency of the voltage is set between 1 kHz and 1 MHz. Furthermore, and that the operating parameters are selected in such a way that in operation, the electrodes are at least partially covered by a coating material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2001
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Weber, Johannes Voigt, Susanne Lucas
  • Patent number: 6158383
    Abstract: In a plasma processing method and apparatus, microwaves are radiated from a slot antenna set at the bottom of a resonator, a plasma is generated using the microwave and a sample is processed by the plasma. A plasma having a ring-form is generated by the microwaves radiated from the slot antennas, which are disposed at an angle which is neither in parallel to nor perpendicular to a surface current flowing on a slot antenna plate. Thereby, the sample is uniformly processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2000
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiichi Watanabe, Muneo Furuse, Hitoshi Tamura, Toru Otsubo
  • Patent number: 6156394
    Abstract: A pretreatment method for use in manufacturing an improved optical component comprises (i) providing a polymeric optical substrate; and (ii) exposing the polymeric optical substrate to electromagnetic energy having a wavelength of about 30 nm to about 350 nm. The exposure of the polymeric optical substrate to the electromagnetic energy substantially improves adhesion between the substrate and an optical coating deposited onto the substrate following pretreatment. The invention addresses the significant need for coated plastic optics by providing a method to achieve reliable adhesion of optical coatings placed on polymeric optical substrates. Specifically, this invention enables improved adhesion for even highly curved or shaped parts which have been historically more difficult to coat. The pretreatment method is particularly useful for molded substrates such as molded polymethylmethacrylate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc.
    Inventors: Nancy Lee Schultz Yamasaki, Ludvik Martinu, Jolanta E. Klemberg-Sapieha
  • Patent number: 6156114
    Abstract: A method for treating the surface of substantially each deagglomerated particle of an array of easily agglomerated particles by contacting deagglomerated particles with a plasma-activated gas species and modifying the surfaces of the deagglomerated particles to aid subsequent incorporation of the particles into a matrix composition; the module for deagglomerating and dispersing the particles into the plasma-activated gas; the apparatus that comprises the deagglomeration module (322) and a reaction chamber (20) in which the particles are treated with the plasma-activated gas; the method for deagglomerating particles that may reagglomerate after plasma treatment; and a color composition containing plasma-treated pigment particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Timothy Allan Bell, Wronald Scott Best, Michael Patrick Chouinard, Paul Francis Herman, James Lewis Hohman, Jr., Laurence J. Levase, Tyau-Jeen Lin, An-Gong Yeh, Thomas William Harding
  • Patent number: 6149982
    Abstract: Plasma assisted polymerization and deposition of a very thin inner surface coating in a plastic or metal container without an undesirable increase in container surface temperature is provided to change the surface properties of the internal plastic surface of a container by reaction of the surface with a reactive gas which has been energized to produce a plasma or the surface is activated by a plasma of reactive gas so that it becomes receptive to a further surface reaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventor: George Plester
  • Patent number: 6136387
    Abstract: An ion flow forming method and apparatus for attracting ions from a plasma generated in a plasma generation chamber and forming a flow of the ions are disclosed. This ion flow forming apparatus includes the plasma generation chamber having a plasma diffusion outlet port, a processing chamber accommodating a target object, for example, two electrodes arranged between the plasma generation chamber and the target object in the processing chamber, and a potential control unit. This potential control unit controls voltages to be applied to the plasma generation chamber, the two electrodes, and the processing chamber, so that the step of diffusing the plasma generated in the plasma generation chamber in a space between the two electrodes, the ion attraction step of repelling electrons in the diffused plasma toward the plasma generation chamber and attracting the ions in the plasma in an opposite direction, and the ion flow formation step of directing the ions toward the target object are sequentially performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Koji Koizumi
  • Patent number: 6126779
    Abstract: A plasma enhanced gas reactor including a reaction chamber having a pair of field-enhancing electrodes each of which has an axial passage through it by one of which a reactant gas is admitted to the reaction chamber, and by the other of which reaction products are removed from the reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2000
    Assignee: AEA Technology PLC
    Inventors: Robert Frew Gillespie, Stephen Ivor Hall, David Raybone, Fiona Winterbottom
  • Patent number: 6113993
    Abstract: The present invention is a method of coating a substrate with a calcium phosphate compound using plasma enhanced MOCVD. The substrate is a solid material that may be porous or non-porous, including but not limited to metal, ceramic, glass and combinations thereof. The coated substrate is preferably used as an implant, including but not limited to orthopaedic, dental and combinations thereof. Calcium phosphate compound includes but is not limited to tricalcium phosphate (TCP), hydroxyapatite (HA) and combinations thereof. TCP is preferred on a titanium implant when implant resorbability is desired. HA is preferred when the bone bonding of new bone tissue into the structure of the implant is desired. Either or both of TCP and/or HA coated implants may be placed into a solution with an agent selected from the group of protein, antibiotic, antimicrobial, growth factor and combinations thereof that can be adsorbed into the coating before implantation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2000
    Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
    Inventors: Yufei Gao, Allison A. Campbell
  • Patent number: 6110542
    Abstract: A method for forming a film by a plasma CVD process in which a high density plasma is generated in the presence of a magnetic field is described, characterized by that the electric power for generating the plasma has a pulsed waveform. The electric power typically is supplied by microwave, and the pulsed wave may be a complex wave having a two-step peak, or may be a complex wave obtained by complexing a pulsed wave with a stationary continuous wave of an electromagnetic wave having the same or different wavelength as that of the pulsed wave. The process enables deposition of a uniform film having an excellent adhesion to the substrate, at a reduced power consumption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akiharu Miyanaga, Tohru Inoue, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 6096389
    Abstract: A method for continuously forming a functional deposited film of large area with a microwave plasma-assisted CVD method, characterized by including:continuously moving a strip member in a longitudinal direction, while forming halfway a columnar film formation space with said moving strip member as a side wall;introducing individually at least two or more kinds of source gases for the formation of deposited film having different compositions via a plurality of respective gas supply means into said film formation space;introducing source gases for the formation of deposited film via said gas supply means into said film formation space;at the same time exciting a microwave plasma within said film formation space by radiating or transmitting said microwave energy with microwave applicator means which allows the microwave energy to be radiated or transmitted directionally in one direction perpendicular to a propagating direction of microwave; andforming the deposited film having its composition controlled on a sur
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masahiro Kanai
  • Patent number: 6077574
    Abstract: In a process for forming a plasma CVD fluorine-doped SiO.sub.2 dielectric film, a feed gas to be supplied to a plasma CVD apparatus is composed to include not only SiH.sub.4 gas, O.sub.2 gas, CF.sub.4 gas and Ar gas but also CO.sub.2 gas, and the amount of carbon and the amount of fluorine included in the feed gas are controlled independently of each other, to form a plasma CVD silicon-based SiO.sub.2 dielectric film doped with fluorine in the concentration range of 4.0.times.10.sup.21 atoms/cc to 1.0.times.10.sup.22 atoms/cc, and carbon in the concentration range of 3.0.times.10.sup.19 atoms/cc to 1.0.times.10.sup.21 atoms/cc. Thus, a plasma CVD silicon-based SiO.sub.2 dielectric film having a low dielectric constant and a sufficient "resistance to moisture" is obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2000
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Tatsuya Usami
  • Patent number: 6060118
    Abstract: There is provided a diamond crystal in which the (111) oriented plane is of the diamond crystal synthesized on a substrate by a chemical vapor deposition method parallel to a substrate surface, and the area of the (111) oriented plane parallel to the substrate surface is 1/24or less an area of the crystal on the substrate. A source gas is activated on a substrate consisting of a material which is not reactive with carbon. The source gas contains at least carbon and hydrogen in such a manner that the ratio of the number of carbon atoms to the total number of molecules of the source gas is 0.5% or less. Subsequently, a diamond crystal in which the (111) orientation plane is parallel to the substrate surface, and the area of the (111) orientation plane parallel to the substrate surface is precipitated on the substrate. A copper plate is preferably contains used as the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignees: Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Tokyo Gas Chemicals Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takefumi Ishikura, Satoshi Yamashita, Shin-ichi Ojika, Hiroshi Kawarada
  • Patent number: 6060131
    Abstract: A substrate to be coated with a thin film is placed inside a vacuum chamber, an ECR plasma is generated and introduced into the vacuum chamber by means of a specified magnetic field generated inside the vacuum chamber and a reaction gas, as well as an inert gas, is introduced into the vacuum chamber while a negative DC voltage superposed with a high-frequency pulse with frequency 25-250 kHz is applied to the substrate by a voltage applying device such that the voltage of the substrate reaches a positive value instantaneously. The frequency of the superposed pulse is selected by using an ammeter to determine an optimum frequency for minimizing the load current of the voltage-applying circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: Shimadzu Corporation
    Inventors: Masayasu Suzuki, Noritaka Akita, Yoshihiro Hashimoto