Electrostatic Shielding in the Plasma Treatment Chamber

Posted September 10th, 2015 in Uncategorized

The plasma process generates plasma fields with very high energy near the edges of the electrode. This causes accelerated etching on the surfaces near the electrode edge. This localized, higher energy plasma is caused by a reaction with the vacuum chamber walls.

Since the end result is higher etch rates at the sides of the electrode, there are slightly lower etch rates as you approach the center of the electrode. Sometimes this creates a bull’s eye effect or process non-uniformity. Some plasma surface modification systems have electrostatically shielded vacuum chambers, so this bull’s eye effect is shielded, preventing plasma reactions in the chamber walls.

For more information about our plasma treatment systems and how plasma cleaning can benefit your manufacturing process, visit our informative website here: Plasma Treatment.

Advantages of Electrostatically Shielded Vacuum Walls

Plasma created is uniform across the entire electrode surface, preventing a bull’s eye pattern and allowing a uniform etch every time.

Results are reliable, consistent, and repeatable.

The surface treatment of each product is independent of the product’s location or orientation on the electrode.

Each form of plasma treatment is very reliable and once properly set up with the proper settings in place, results are very uniform and operation is very simple for the user.