EP0603864A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Surface potential control in plasma processing of materials
Assignee: The AT&T MVPD Group LLC
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Filing: 1993-12-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-12-22
Abstract
Abstract An object (30) is plasma processed by placing an electrically conducting grid (34) over all or a portion of the surface (32) of the object (30) so that the grid (34) generally follows the contours of the surface (32) but is displaced outwardly from the surface (32). Ions or electrons from a plasma surrounding the object (30) are accelerated into the surface (32) of the object (30) using as a processing driving force an electrical potential (40) applied to the electrically conducting grid (34). The use of a contoured conducting grid (34) allows plasma processing of large, electrically nonconducting objects (30) and objects (30) having sharp surface features (31) or recesses (33).
Inventors
- 👤 Jesse N. Matossian
- 👤 Robert W. Schumacher
- 👤 David M. Pepper
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 05:02
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C8/00; C23C8/06; C23C8/36; B; B29; B29C; B29C59/00; B29C59/14; C23C14/00; C23C14/22; C23C14/24; C23C14/32; C23C14/48; B29C35/00; B29C35/02; B29C35/08; B29C35/0866; B29C2035/0872; B29C2035/0877
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for plasma processing an object (30), comprising the steps of: providing (20) an object (30) having a surface (32); placing (22) an electrically conducting grid (34) over the surface (32) of the object (30), the grid (34) generally following the contours of the surface (32) but being displaced outwardly (D) from the surface (32); and plasma processing (24) the surface (32) of the object (30) with charge carriers produced in a plasma, using as a processing driving force an electrical potential (40) applied to the electrically conducting grid (34).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1, characterized in that the charge carriers are ions or electrons.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the grid (34) covers the entire surface (32) of the object (30).
Claim 4
Independent Claim
25 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that the grid (34) provides a constant potential volume that encloses the object (30).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the grid (34) covers a portion of the surface (32) of the object (30), a conducting foil (35) covers the remainder of the surface (32) of the object (30), and the grid (34) and conducting foil (35) are electrically conducting.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 5, characterized in that the grid (34) and conducting foil (35) together provide a constant potential volume that encloses the object (30).
Claim 7
Independent Claim
83 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the step (24) of plasma processing achieves ion deposition on the surface (32) of the object (30), and the step (24) of plasma processing includes the step of plasma ion depositing ions onto the surface (32) of the object (30), using as a depositing driving force an electrical potential applied to the electrically conducting grid (34) sufficient to deposit ions onto the surface but not implant ions into the surface (32).
Claim 8
Independent Claim
77 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the step (24) of plasma processing achieves ion implantation into the surface (32) of the object (30), and the step (24) of plasma processing includes the step of plasma ion implanting ions into the surface (32) of the object (30), using as an implanting driving force an electrical potential (40) applied to the electrically conducting grid (34) sufficient to implant ions into the surface (32).
Claim 9
Independent Claim
29 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the step (24) of plasma processing achieves ion mixing into the surface (32) of the object (30).
Claim 10
Independent Claim
29 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the step (24) of plasma processing achieves electron bombardment into the surface (32) of the object (30).
Claim 11
Independent Claim
18 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the object (30) is electrically conducting.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
18 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the object (30) is electrically nonconducting.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
21 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the object (30) is made of a polymeric material.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
28 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 13, characterized in that the electrically conducting grid (34) has an open area fraction of at least about 70 percent.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
36 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 14, characterized in that the electrically conducting grid (34) is made of a material that has substantially no sputter deposition onto the surface (32) of the object (30).
Claim 16
Independent Claim
33 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 14, characterized in that the electrically conducting grid (34) is made of a material that sputter deposits onto the surface (32) of the object (30).
Claim 17
Independent Claim
34 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 16, characterized in that the electrically conducting grid (34) is displaced outwardly from the surface (32) of the object (30) by at least about 1/2 inch.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
39 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 17, characterized in that the surface (32) of the object (30) has a sharply shaped feature (31) thereon, and the grid (34) is shaped to generally conform to the feature (31).
Claim 19
Independent Claim
37 words
The method of any of claims 1 - 18, characterized in that the surface (32) of the object (30) has a recess (33) thereon, and the grid (34) is shaped to generally conform to the recess (33).
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
16 words
A plasma processed object (30) prepared by the method of any of claims 1 - 19.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
75 words
A method for plasma processing an object (30), comprising the steps of: providing an object (30) having a surface (32); creating an equipotential surface (34) adjacent to the surface (32) of the object (30) but displaced outwardly from the surface (32); and plasma processing the surface (32) of the object (30) with charge carriers produced in a plasma, using as a plasma processing driving force an electrostatic potential (40) maintained at the equipotential surface (34).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 21, characterized in that the plasma is created outside of the equipotential surface (34).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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