According to one or more other aspects of the present disclosure, a nozzle for an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) includes a housing having an upstream end, a downstream end, and an inner wall defining a channel extending axially through the housing from the upstream end and the downstream end. The nozzle further includes a cathode disposed within the channel proximate to the upstream end of the housing. The downstream end of the housing includes a first end surface, the first end surface bisects at least a portion of the channel to form an opening through the first end surface, and a first point on the first end surface at the inner wall is disposed downstream of a second point on the first end surface so that a plasma generated by the nozzle preferentially flows off axis in a direction of the second point.

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus that facilitate the formation of high-quality carbon gapfill structures and that address the issues related to conventional carbon gapfill methods. In certain embodiments, the carbon gapfill methods and apparatus described herein utilize a low frequency radio frequency (LFRF) biased plasma treatment to gapfill structures with high-quality and high-density carbon films.

The present invention relates to a device for generating a dielectric barrier discharge for treatment of an object to be activated with non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma, comprising a dielectric working chamber which has a wall of a dielectric material and which encloses a working space, wherein a metallization is applied to an outer side of the wall facing away from the working space, wherein the working space is an open volume, and a high-voltage source which is configured to apply a high voltage to the metallization or to the object to be activated when the object to be activated is in the working space. According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a method of treatment of an object to be activated with a non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma.

An example method includes providing a wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. The example method includes exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to one or more electrical discharges from an electrical discharge machining (EDM) system to reduce a surface roughness of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. Exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to the one or more electrical discharges may include submerging a surface of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece in a dielectric fluid; positioning an electrode head relative to the surface such that a gap is defined between an end of the electrode head and the surface; and generating an electrical discharge across the gap to create a plasma zone within the gap such that a material is removed from the surface.

A surface modifying apparatus is configured to modify a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate by plasma of a processing gas. The surface modifying apparatus includes a processing vessel; a measuring unit; and a controller. The processing vessel is configured to accommodate the substrate therein. The measuring unit is configured to measure a value indicating an amount of moisture in the processing vessel. The controller is configured to determine whether or not bonding strength between the substrate and the another substrate, when it is assumed that the substrate modified in the processing vessel is bonded to the another substrate, is good based on the value indicating the amount of moisture in the processing vessel measured by the measuring unit.

An example method includes providing a wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. The example method includes exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to one or more electrical discharges from an electrical discharge machining (EDM) system to reduce a surface roughness of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. Exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to the one or more electrical discharges may include submerging a surface of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece in a dielectric fluid; positioning an electrode head relative to the surface such that a gap is defined between an end of the electrode head and the surface; and generating an electrical discharge across the gap to create a plasma zone within the gap such that a material is removed from the surface.

A method of etching a metal includes performing at least two cycles of an etch process. A cycle of the etch process includes: performing a surface modification on an exposed surface of a metal layer over a substrate, performing a hydrogen treatment on the metal layer, and performing a cleaning treatment on the metal layer. The hydrogen treatment forms a layer of reaction products on the metal layer. The cleaning treatment removes the layer of reaction products.

Embodiments of multi-chamber processing tools are provided herein. In some embodiments, a multi-chamber processing tool includes: an equipment front end module (EFEM) having one or more loadports for receiving one or more types of substrates; a plurality of atmospheric modular mainframes coupled to each other and having a first atmospheric modular mainframe coupled to the EFEM, wherein each of the plurality of atmospheric modular mainframes include a transfer chamber and one or more process chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein at least one of the plurality of atmospheric modular mainframes includes a bonder chamber, wherein the transfer chamber includes a buffer having a plurality of shelves for supporting the one or more types of substrates and includes a transfer robot; and an atmospheric plasma activation module disposed in the transfer chamber or one of the one or more process chambers.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, a heater, a supporting member inside the chamber and configured to support a substrate, the supporting member including a lift pin that is movable in a vertical direction and is configured to move the substrate vertically with respect to the heater, a plasma source configured to excite gas inside the chamber to into a plasma state for an annealing process, and a gas supply member configured to supply gas into the chamber for a substrate processing process.

An example method includes providing a wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. The example method includes exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to one or more electrical discharges from an electrical discharge machining (EDM) system to reduce a surface roughness of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece. Exposing the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece to the one or more electrical discharges may include submerging a surface of the wide bandgap semiconductor workpiece in a dielectric fluid; positioning an electrode head relative to the surface such that a gap is defined between an end of the electrode head and the surface; and generating an electrical discharge across the gap to create a plasma zone within the gap such that a material is removed from the surface.