In an ion bombardment apparatus of the present invention, a heating type thermal electron emission electrode formed by a filament is placed on one inner surface of a vacuum chamber, an anode for receiving a thermal electron from the thermal electron emission electrode is placed on another inner surface of the vacuum chamber, and a base material is placed between the thermal electron emission electrode and the anode. Further, the ion bombardment apparatus has a discharge power supply for generating a glow discharge upon application of a potential difference between the thermal electron emission electrode and the anode, a heating power supply for heating the thermal electron emission electrode so as to emit the thermal electron, and a bias power supply for applying negative pulse-shaped bias potential with respect to the vacuum chamber to the base material.

The disclosure pertains to a capacitively coupled plasma source in which VHF power is applied through an impedance-matching coaxial resonator having a symmetrical power distribution.

A plasma generator includes a chamber for confining a feed gas. An anode is positioned inside the chamber. A cathode assembly is positioned adjacent to the anode inside the chamber. A pulsed power supply comprising at least two solid state switches and having an output that is electrically connected between the anode and the cathode assembly generates voltage micropulses. A pulse width and a duty cycle of the voltage micropulses are generated using a voltage waveform comprising voltage oscillation having amplitudes and frequencies that generate a strongly ionized plasma.

A method of treating particles by disaggregating, deagglomerating, exfoliating, cleaning, functionalizing, doping, decorating and/or repairing said particles, in which the particles are subjected to plasma treatment in a treatment chamber containing a plurality of electrodes which project therein and wherein plasma is generated by said electrodes which are moved during the plasma treatment to agitate the particles.

A plasma processing method includes generating a plasma within a processing chamber using source power to ignite a glow phase of the plasma, generating low-energy ions at a substrate supported by a substrate holder in the processing chamber from the plasma using lower-frequency radio frequency bias power applied during the glow phase, and generating high-energy ions at the substrate using higher-frequency radio frequency bias power applied during an afterglow phase of the plasma. The frequency of the higher-frequency radio frequency bias power is greater than the frequency of the lower-frequency radio frequency bias power.

The present invention provides a glow discharge assembly that includes an electrically conductive cylindrical screen, a flange assembly, an electrode, an insulator and a non-conductive granular material. The electrically conductive cylindrical screen has an open end and a closed end. The flange assembly is attached to and electrically connected to the open end of the electrically conductive cylindrical screen. The flange assembly has a hole with a first diameter aligned with a longitudinal axis of the electrically conductive cylindrical screen. The electrode is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the electrically conductive cylindrical screen and extends through the hole of the flange assembly into the electrically conductive cylindrical screen. The insulator seals the hole of the flange assembly around the electrode and maintains a substantially equidistant gap between the electrically conductive cylindrical screen and the electrode. The non-conductive granular material is disposed within the substantially equidistant gap.

Certain example embodiments relate to an improved method of strengthening glass substrates (e.g., soda lime silica glass substrates). In certain examples, a glass substrate may be chemically strengthened by creating an electric field within the glass. In certain cases, the chemical tempering may be performed by surrounding the substrate by a plasma including certain ions, such as Li.sup.+, K.sup.+, Mg.sup.2+, and/or the like. In some cases, these ions may be forced into the glass substrate due to the half-cycles of the electric field generated by the electrodes that formed the plasma. This may advantageously chemically strengthen a glass substrate on a substantially reduced time scale. In other example embodiments, an electric field may be set in a float bath such that sodium ions are driven from the molten glass ribbon into the tin bath, which may advantageously result in a stronger glass substrate with reduced sodium content.

A plasma spraying device may include a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode may define an ionizing gas channel and at least one cooling channel. A distal end of the at least one cooling gas channel opens to an exterior of the plasma spraying spray gun proximate to a distal end of the first electrode. The second electrode is at least partially disposed in the ionizing gas channel.

According to one aspect, a visualization device may include an image sensor, a lens for focusing light onto the image sensor, a first end, a second end opposite the first end, a lateral wall surface extending between the first end and the second end, and a coating on the lateral wall surface. The coating may include at least one of an electrically-insulating layer and a light-blocking layer, and may be deposited on the lateral wall surface using, for example, physical vapor deposition (PVD).

Certain example embodiments relate to an improved method of strengthening glass substrates (e.g., soda lime silica glass substrates). In certain examples, a glass substrate may be chemically strengthened by creating an electric field within the glass. In certain cases, the chemical tempering may be performed by surrounding the substrate by a plasma including certain ions, such as Li.sup.+, K.sup.+, Mg.sup.2+, and/or the like. In some cases, these ions may be forced into the glass substrate due to the half-cycles of the electric field generated by the electrodes that formed the plasma. This may advantageously chemically strengthen a glass substrate on a substantially reduced time scale. In other example embodiments, an electric field may be set in a float bath such that sodium ions are driven from the molten glass ribbon into the tin bath, which may advantageously result in a stronger glass substrate with reduced sodium content.