KR100948951B1 - Atmospheric pressure plasma generator with extended power electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode, comprising: a chamber having a gas inlet; A center ground electrode installed at the center of the chamber; First and second side powers spaced apart from both sides of the center ground electrode in the chamber so as to face the center ground electrode, and having a lower surface extending in a lateral direction from the center of the chamber to the lower ground electrode; An electrode; A lower ground electrode having a plasma injection hole for injecting the generated plasma to the outside of the chamber is provided below the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes, so that power is applied together with gas supply in the chamber. The plasma generated in the space between the first and second side power electrodes, the center ground electrode and the lower ground electrode is configured to be sprayed to the outside through the plasma injection hole of the lower ground electrode. By having such a configuration, it is possible to uniformly generate a large-area plasma at a high density at atmospheric pressure using a small amount of etching gas, thereby providing an atmospheric pressure plasma generator with improved plasma injection length.

Atmospheric Plasma, High Density Plasma, Recycling System, Lower Ground Electrode, Plasma Nozzle

Description

Atmospheric pressure plasma system provided with extended power electrode

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode, and more particularly, to improve the plasma density generated between the lower ground electrode and the surface of the substrate by expanding the lower area of the power electrode. The present invention relates to an atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus which can improve the plasma injection length to be applied, and which can be applied to a large-area substrate surface treatment by recovering and regenerating residual gas after use.

Plasma refers to an ionized gas state composed of ions, electrons, radicals, and the like. In addition, the plasma treatment method generally refers to depositing a reactant in a plasma state in an ionized gas state or depositing it on a substrate, or cleaning or etching an object by using a reactant in a plasma state.

Meanwhile, the plasma treatment method may be classified into a treatment method using a low pressure plasma and an atmospheric pressure plasma according to the air pressure of the plasma generation region in the chamber.

In the treatment method using low pressure plasma, a glow discharge plasma is generated under low pressure close to vacuum to form a thin film on a substrate, or etching or etching of a predetermined material formed on the substrate. It is a method that has been mainly adopted as a method of ashing and cleaning.

However, the low pressure plasma processing method requires expensive equipment such as a vacuum chamber and a vacuum exhaust device, and there is a difficulty in maintaining the equipment due to the complexity of the internal configuration of the apparatus. In addition, when plasma processing is required for a large area substrate, such as a liquid crystal display, there is a problem that an expensive cost is involved depending on the size of the substrate.

Accordingly, a treatment method using a plasma generated under atmospheric pressure (Atmospheric Pressure) conditions without the need for expensive equipment for vacuum generation, maintenance, and measurement has been proposed. Such a method using atmospheric pressure plasma can be classified into a direct type and a remote type according to the arrangement positions of a power electrode and a grounded ground electrode to which power is applied.

In the direct type, the power electrode and the ground electrode are disposed to face each other inside the chamber, and by placing the substrate on the ground electrode, the substrate is directly treated by using the plasma generated between the power electrode and the ground electrode when the power is applied. Is the structure that is performed.

The conventional atmospheric pressure plasma generator adopting the direct type has the advantage that the processing effect of the desired work such as cleaning, etching and etching is excellent due to the strong electric field generated between the power electrode and the ground electrode when the power is applied. There is a problem that the risk of causing damage to the surface of the workpiece, such as metal wiring on the substrate due to the action was high.

On the other hand, the remote type is generally disposed in the chamber so that the power electrode and the ground electrode to face each other, the substrate is installed in the lower portion of the chamber in a direction perpendicular to the power electrode and the ground electrode, the power electrode and the ground electrode when the power is applied It refers to a structure in which the surface treatment of the substrate is performed by using a plasma generated between and moving to the bottom of the chamber.

This type of remote type device has the advantage of reducing the damage of the substrate to be processed by reducing the influence of the electric field on the substrate as compared to the direct type, but the exhaust gas treatment and unit cost are required because a relatively large amount of gas is required for the treatment of the same area. If expensive gas is used, there is a problem that leads to a cost increase. Therefore, there is a difficulty in applying to large area substrate processing.

Therefore, it is possible to control an arc or streamer that damages the target object, which has been pointed out in the conventional direct type, to overcome the degradation of processing efficiency of the remote type and to process a large area substrate. There has been a need to develop a high productivity atmospheric plasma apparatus that can be applied.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above, it is possible to control the streamer or the arc causing damage to the workpiece compared to the conventional atmospheric pressure plasma generator, it is possible to control the plasma density through the expansion of the electrode area It is possible to increase the processing area and the processing speed by increasing the plasma injection length, and to provide a system capable of regenerating gas, which can solve the cost problem when using expensive gas. It aims to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a chamber having a gas inlet for introducing a reaction gas or an atmosphere gas connected to an external gas supply unit; A center ground electrode connected to the ground terminal outside the chamber and installed in the center of the chamber; It is connected to the power supply outside the chamber, is installed in the chamber to be spaced apart from both sides of the center ground electrode to face the center ground electrode, the lower surface of the shape extending in the lateral direction from the center of the chamber facing the lower ground electrode First and second side power electrodes; A lower ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and disposed below the chamber in a direction perpendicular to the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes, and having a plasma injection hole for injecting the generated plasma to the outside of the chamber. A power source is supplied from the power supply unit to the first and second side power electrodes together with a gas supply in the chamber, and is generated in a space between the first and second side power electrodes and the center ground electrode and the lower ground electrode. It is characterized in that the plasma is configured to be sprayed to the outside through the plasma injection port of the lower ground electrode.

In the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus, the plasma injection hole of the lower ground electrode may be coated with metal and provided in a capillary or slit form.

Atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the chamber is connected to the external gas supply unit having a gas inlet for introducing a reaction gas or atmosphere gas; A center ground electrode connected to the ground terminal outside the chamber and installed in the center of the chamber; It is connected to the power supply outside the chamber, is installed in the chamber to be spaced apart from both sides of the center ground electrode to face the center ground electrode, the lower surface of the shape extending in the lateral direction from the center of the chamber facing the lower ground electrode First and second side power electrodes; A lower ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and installed in a direction perpendicular to the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes at a lower side outside the chamber, and is provided from a power supply unit with a gas supply in the chamber. As power is applied to the first and second side power electrodes, plasma discharge may occur in a space between the first and second side power electrodes, the center ground electrode, and the lower ground electrode.

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In addition, the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes may be coated with an insulating material, and a plurality of surfaces may be provided on opposite surfaces of the first and second side power electrodes with the center ground electrode and the lower ground electrode. It is preferable to form protrusions.

In addition, in order to achieve the object of the present invention, the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus according to the embodiments described above, the exhaust passage for moving the residual gas left after the reaction with the object to be processed from the lower side of the chamber; A recovery system for collecting residual gas that is moved through the exhaust passage through a gas pipe connected to the exhaust passage; It is characterized in that it further comprises a recycling system for receiving and collecting the gas collected from the recovery system.

On the other hand, the recycling system is connected to the gas inlet and the gas supply line of the chamber, characterized in that configured to re-supplied the gas regenerated in the recycling system into the chamber.

According to the atmospheric pressure plasma generator having the extended power electrode of the present invention, the surface of the workpiece is prevented from being damaged by an electrical shock such as a fine streamer or arcing at atmospheric pressure and a small amount of The etching gas is used to stably and uniformly generate a high density large area plasma.

In addition, by having a system that can reuse the residual gas after the treatment of the object, it is possible to reduce environmental pollution and reduce the process cost.

Moreover, according to the atmospheric pressure plasma generator of the present invention capable of generating a high density plasma having a uniform and stable property under atmospheric pressure in large areas, it is possible to replace the surface etching process and the surface cleaning process of the TFT-LCD with atmospheric pressure plasma. As a result, it is possible to reduce the processing time and lower the unit cost.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a configuration of an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the atmospheric pressure plasma generator according to the present invention includes a chamber 400 having a gas inlet 401 thereon, a center ground electrode 100 installed at the center of the chamber as a double-sided electrode, and The first side power electrode 201 and the second side power electrode 202, which are installed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance to both sides of the center ground electrode, and the plasma injection hole 301 are provided below the chamber 400. It has a configuration having a lower ground electrode (300). Here, the first and second power electrodes 201 and 202 are connected to the power supply unit 10 outside the chamber, and the center ground electrode 100 and the lower ground electrode 300 are connected to the ground terminal 20 outside the chamber. do. In addition, the gas inlet 401 may be configured to be connected to an external gas supply unit to introduce a reaction gas (eg, an etching gas) or an atmosphere gas into the chamber.

The center ground electrode 100, the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 and the lower ground electrode 300 may be made of a material such as stainless steel or copper (Cu). In addition, these electrode surfaces coat the surface with an insulating material so that the plasma is generated uniformly. Meanwhile, the magnitude of the power applied to the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 by the power supply unit 10 may be several kilovolts (kV) to several tens of kilovolts (kV).

With the above configuration, when gas is supplied into the chamber 400 and power is applied from the power supply unit 10 to the first and second side power electrodes, the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 are provided. Plasma discharge occurs in the space between the center ground electrode 100 and the space between the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 and the lower ground electrode 300, and the generated plasma is the lower ground electrode 300. Through the plasma injection hole 301 provided in the) is discharged to the outside of the lower side of the chamber.

That is, the lower surface of the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 based on the decomposition of the gas and the generated plasma in the space between the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 and the center ground electrode 100. Discharge is also generated between the 211 and 212 and the lower ground electrode 300 to generate a high-density plasma, and the generated high-density plasma is formed through the plasma injection hole 301 of the lower ground electrode 300 by the pressure difference. Configured to be sprayed. The configuration is a remote type processing method, and the object to be processed (substrate) 30 is disposed below the lower ground electrode 300 and discharged through the plasma injection port 301 of the lower ground electrode 300. Surface treatment by plasma.

Through such a configuration, the high density large area plasma is discharged at a constant injection pressure to perform the surface treatment of the substrate, thereby overcoming the limitation of the processing area of the conventional remote type atmospheric pressure plasma, and the processing speed. It can be improved.

Although the plasma injection hole 301 is not particularly limited in shape, for example, the plasma injection hole 301 may be provided in the form of a plurality of holes formed in the lower ground electrode 300, and the surface of the injection hole may be made of metal. Coating to prevent fine streamers or arcing.

Preferably, the lower ground electrode 300 is coated with an insulating material (dielectric material), but the plasma injection hole 301 is coated with a metal (metal), to form a metal coating between the insulating material Can be. Alternatively, the lower ground electrode 300 may be coated with an insulating material, but the plasma injection hole 301 may be configured to have a metal coated on the lower portion of the insulating material coating layer.

2 (a) to 2 (c) show an exemplary form of the plasma injection hole 301 of the lower ground electrode. As shown, the plasma injection port 301 may be configured in one form selected from various capillary or slit shapes, and may be formed in a combination configuration of capillary and slit shapes. Such a shape of the injection hole creates a pressure inside the lower ground electrode module when the plasma is generated, thereby expanding the injection region when the plasma is discharged.

Meanwhile, lower portions of the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 extend in the lateral direction from the center direction of the chamber, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1, facing the lower ground electrode 300. It is preferable to constitute. As described above, the lower surfaces 211 and 212 of the lower sides of the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 are bent to face the lower ground electrode 300, so that the plasma generated in the narrow area of the upper chamber is lowered. Can be generated with higher density and larger area plasma on the opposite side to the lower ground electrode.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the first and second side power electrodes on both sides of the chamber in the configuration of the plasma generator having the extended power electrode shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in the figure, a plurality of protrusions having a pointed shape are formed on opposite surfaces of the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 to the center ground electrode 100 and the lower ground electrode 300 so as to easily discharge. 201a and 202a may be formed. The protrusions 201a and 202a formed on the surfaces of the first and second power electrodes 201 and 202 act to facilitate plasma generation even at low voltages, and increase the surface area of the electrode to improve the generated plasma density to increase processing efficiency. Function. Preferably, the plasma is configured to be generated uniformly by coating the entire projection with an insulating material or by providing an insulator structure.

As shown in FIG. 4, the protrusions 201a and 202a may be formed in a triangular pyramid shape, and the protrusions 201a and 202a may be regularly arranged to form a plurality of columns and rows. In addition, the projection may be composed of a tip including a pin shape, a cone, or a polygonal pyramid with a tip, and may be optionally a polygonal pillar.

Meanwhile, if necessary, the space between the center ground electrode 100 and the first side power electrode 201 and the space between the center ground electrode 100 and the second side power electrode 202 are physically separated from each other. The gas inlet 401 is configured to be provided at the upper portions of the separated spaces, respectively, so that different types of gases may be injected into the left and right portions of the chamber to perform different plasma treatments. For example, it may be operated in an in-line system such as performing surface cleaning on one side and performing an etching or deposition process on the other side.

Figure 5 shows an application embodiment of the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode according to the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the lower ground electrode 300 is disposed outside the lower side of the chamber 400 and the workpiece (substrate) is placed on the lower ground electrode 300 so that the center ground electrode 100 and the first, The surface treatment of the workpiece is performed by using the plasma generated between the two side power electrodes 201 and 202, the lower surfaces 211 and 212 of the first and second side power electrodes 201 and 202 and the lower ground electrode 300. It is also possible to configure it to be performed. Such a structure has a feature that can improve the processing speed of the workpiece. Except the configuration of the lower ground electrode 300, the structure of the other protrusions, etc. can be configured in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG.

5, the space between the center ground electrode 100 and the first side power electrode 201 and the space between the center ground electrode 100 and the second side power electrode 202 are physically separated. And the gas inlet 401 is provided at the upper portion of each of the separated spaces, so that different types of gases may be injected into the left and right portions of the chamber so that different plasma treatments may be performed. .

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 1, embodiments of the atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode according to the present invention, for moving the residual gas remaining after the reaction with the object from the lower side of the chamber 400 A recovery system 600 for collecting the residual gas moved through the exhaust passage through the exhaust passage 500 and the gas pipe 50 connected to the exhaust passage, and the gas collected from the recovery system 600 is transferred and regenerated. A recycling system 700 for processing may be further provided.

In this case, in order to introduce the regenerated gas from the recycling system 700 into the chamber 400, the recycled gas is connected to the gas inlet 401 of the chamber to transfer the regenerated gas to each other. Preferably, the supply line 40 is provided. In addition, the exhaust passage 500 may be formed to extend from the lower side of the chamber 400 to the upper side of the chamber along the outer circumferential surface of the chamber.

As such, the residual gas remaining after the treatment of the object is collected in the recovery system 600 through the gas pipe 50 along the exhaust passage 500, and is regenerated in the recycling system 700 to be reused for plasma generation. In addition, it is possible to reduce the environmental pollution by using a small amount of gas to perform the required process. In addition, when expensive gas is to be used, it is possible to reuse the residual gas after treatment, thereby solving the problem of high cost, and in the case of a continuous process, it is also possible to reduce the process cost.

In the above, the present invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can variously change variously without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention described in the following claims. You can do it.

According to the atmospheric pressure plasma generator having the extended power electrode of the present invention, the surface of the workpiece is prevented from being damaged by an electrical shock such as a fine streamer or arcing at atmospheric pressure and a small amount of By using the etching gas, it is possible to stably and uniformly generate a high-density, large-area plasma, which can be applied to etching a large-area substrate.

In addition, by having a system that can reuse the residual gas after the treatment of the object, it is possible to reduce environmental pollution and reduce the process cost.

Furthermore, according to the atmospheric plasma generator of the present invention capable of generating a high density plasma having a uniform and stable characteristic in a large area under atmospheric pressure conditions, the surface etching process and the surface cleaning process of the TFT-LCD can be replaced with atmospheric pressure plasma. .

1 is a view showing the configuration of an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the shape of a plasma injection hole of a lower ground electrode in an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode according to the present invention;

3 is a view showing a modification of the first and second side power electrodes on both sides of the chamber in the configuration of the atmospheric pressure plasma generator having the extended power electrode shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a view showing the structure of the protrusions provided in the power electrode of the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode according to the present invention;

5 is a view showing an application embodiment of the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode according to the present invention.

Claims (13)

A chamber connected to an external gas supply unit and having a gas inlet for introducing a reaction gas or an atmosphere gas; A center ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and installed at the center of the chamber, the center ground electrode having a predetermined width from an upper side to a lower side; It is connected to the power supply outside the chamber and is installed in the chamber so as to be spaced apart from both sides of the center ground electrode so as to have a predetermined distance from the top to the bottom of the center ground electrode. First and second side power electrodes having a bottom surface extending in the shape of the first and second side power electrodes; A lower ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and disposed below the chamber in a direction perpendicular to the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes, and having a plasma injection hole for injecting the generated plasma to the outside of the chamber. With As the power is applied from the power supply to the first and second side power electrodes together with the gas supply in the chamber, the plasma generated in the space between the first and second side power electrodes, the center ground electrode, and the lower ground electrode is lower ground. Atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode, characterized in that configured to be injected to the outside through the plasma injection port of the electrode. According to claim 1, The lower ground electrode is coated with an insulating material (dielectric material), wherein the plasma injection port is an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode, characterized in that the form of a metal (metal) coated between the insulating material. According to claim 1, The lower ground electrode is coated with an insulating material (dielectric material), wherein the plasma injection port is an atmospheric pressure plasma generating device having an extended power electrode, characterized in that the metal (metal) coated on the lower portion of the insulating material coating layer. The method according to claim 2 or 3, The plasma injection port is an atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode, characterized in that provided in the form of a capillary (capillary) or a slit (slit) on the lower ground electrode. A chamber connected to an external gas supply unit and having a gas inlet for introducing a reaction gas or an atmosphere gas; A center ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and installed at the center of the chamber, the center ground electrode having a predetermined width from an upper side to a lower side; It is connected to the power supply outside the chamber and is installed in the chamber so as to be spaced apart from both sides of the center ground electrode so as to have a predetermined distance from the top to the bottom of the center ground electrode. First and second side power electrodes having a bottom surface extending in the shape of the first and second side power electrodes; A lower ground electrode connected to a ground terminal outside the chamber and provided in a direction perpendicular to the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes at a lower side outside the chamber; As the power is applied from the power supply to the first and second side power electrodes together with the gas supply in the chamber, plasma discharge occurs in a space between the first and second side power electrodes, the center ground electrode and the lower ground electrode. Atmospheric pressure plasma generator having an extended power electrode, characterized in that configured. delete The method according to claim 1 or 5, And the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes are coated with an insulating material. The method of claim 7, wherein Atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode, characterized in that the projection is formed on the opposite surface of the first and second side power electrodes facing the center ground electrode and the lower ground electrode. The method of claim 8, The projections formed on the surface of the first and second side power electrodes are coated with an insulating material, or have an insulator structure. The method of claim 9, Each region between the center ground electrode and the first and second side power electrodes is physically separated from each other, and the gas inlet is provided on top of each of the separated regions. Atmospheric pressure plasma having an extended power electrode is provided. Generator. The method according to claim 1 or 5, An exhaust passage for moving the remaining gas left after the reaction with the workpiece from the lower side of the chamber; A recovery system for collecting residual gas that is moved through the exhaust passage through a gas pipe connected to the exhaust passage; Atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode characterized in that it further comprises a recycling system for receiving the gas collected from the recovery system for regeneration. The method of claim 11, wherein The recycling system is connected to the gas inlet of the chamber through a gas supply line, the atmospheric pressure plasma generating apparatus having an extended power electrode, characterized in that configured to be re-supplied to the interior of the chamber regenerated gas in the recycling system. The method of claim 12, The exhaust passage is an atmospheric pressure plasma generating device having an extended power electrode, characterized in that formed to extend from the lower side of the chamber to the upper side of the chamber along the outer peripheral surface of the chamber.

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