ATMOSPHERIC-PRESSURE PLASMA GENERATION DEVICE AND PLASMA GENERATION METHOD

摘要

An atmospheric-pressure plasma generation device provided with a reaction chamber, a pair of electrodes provided in the reaction chamber so as to face each other, and an outlet through which the plasma generated by applying a voltage between the electrodes is blown out, wherein the voltage is applied between the electrodes after an inert gas is fed into the reaction chamber. After a set time (B) has elapsed since the feeding of the inert gas has commenced, a process gas is fed into the reaction chamber in which the voltage is being applied between the electrodes. It is thereby possible to perform plasma processing without applying a voltage to an object to be processed, and to appropriately perform plasma processing even when said object is a circuit board or the like. In addition, when discharging is performed under atmospheric pressure, the voltage required to produce a discharge in an inert gas is lower than the voltage required for discharging in a mixture of the inert gas and the process gas; therefore, discharging in a reaction chamber into which only the inert gas has been fed makes it possible to reduce the voltage during discharging.