High Performance Microwave Plasma Source for Industrial Plasma Surface Processing

摘要

We illustrate a novel microwave plasma source designed for large-area industrial plasma surface processing and film deposition. The source uses 2.45 GHz microwave frequency emitted from a monopole antenna centered at the focal point of a parabolic reflector to generate a quasi-parallel microwave beam, thus effectively producing large-volume, homogeneous, high density plasmas at low pressures even far from the source. Its wide applications involve high-rate PECVD deposition of a-C:H coatings up to several tens of μm/h, hybrid PECVDPVD deposition (together with magnetron sputtering, arc evaporation, etc.) of advanced carbon-based nanocomposite or multilayer coatings, high-rate plasma etching, and large-area ion sources (such as nitrogen). The plasma source will be shown for its easy integration into commercial PVD/CVD coating units, and its expandability in accordance with requirements of processing area and homogeneity. We therefore demonstrate the integration of two such plasma sources in a PVD machine. The high performance of the sources will be illustrated under different plasma parameters through their capability for large-area, high-rate, homogeneous growth of C:H coatings using acetylene/argon mixtures.