A plasma generator includes: an arc chamber having a plasma generation region in which plasma is generated in the inside thereof; a magnetic field generator configured to apply a magnetic field to the plasma generation region; and a cathode configured to extend in an axial direction along an applying direction of the magnetic field applied to the plasma generation region and provided with a cathode cap that emits thermal electrons at a front end thereof. The cathode cap protrudes toward the inside of the arc chamber in the axial direction and has a shape of which a width in the radial direction perpendicular to the axial direction becomes smaller toward the inside of the arc chamber.

To generate a plasma for processing a workpiece, an electron beam is introduced into a plasma reactor chamber by radial injection using an annular electron beam source distributed around the circular periphery of the chamber to provide azimuthal uniformity. The electron beam propagation path is tilted upwardly away from the workpiece, either by tilting the electron beam source or by a magnetic field. In other embodiments, there are plural opposing electron beams from linear electron beam sources directed toward the center of the plasma reactor chamber.

Presented is a method for the surface treatment of objects utilizing thermal plasma, including cascade plasma, and a wrap, such as tape or foil, where the tape or foil attracts the specific part of the plasma which produces a heat necessary to produce the desired treatment. The specific surface treatment may include, but is not limited to, hard-facing, brazing, welding, other types of joining operations, glass bending or forming, glass texturing, coating and surface reconditioning.

The disclosure concerns a method of operating a plasma reactor having an electron beam plasma source for independently adjusting electron beam energy, plasma ion energy and radical population. The disclosure further concerns an electron beam source for a plasma reactor having an RF-driven electrode for producing the electron beam.

A plasma generation process that is more optimized for vapor deposition processes in general, and particularly for directed vapor deposition processing. The features of such an approach enables a robust and reliable coaxial plasma capability in which the plasma jet is coaxial with the vapor plume, rather than the orthogonal configuration creating the previous disadvantages. In this way, the previous deformation of the vapor gas jet by the work gas stream of the hollow cathode pipe can be avoided and the carrier gas consumption needed for shaping the vapor plume can be significantly decreased.

A plasma treatment device is provided and includes a first electrode, a dielectric body supportive of the first electrode and a second mesh electrode having an opposite polarity as the first electrode and comprising a seating portion. The second mesh electrode is disposed proximate to the dielectric body to define a gap receptive of particles for collection in the seating portion. The gap is sized such that, with the second mesh electrode activated, a plasma field is generated to treat the particles in the seating portion. The seating portion is configured to retain the particles during treatment in opposition to ionic winds resulting from the plasma field.

A substrate bonding apparatus (100) includes a vacuum chamber (200), a surface activation part (610) for activating respective bonding surfaces of a first substrate (301) and a second substrate (302), and stage moving mechanisms (403, 404) for bringing the two bonding surfaces into contact with each other, to thereby bond the substrates (301, 302). In order to activate the bonding surfaces in the vacuum chamber (200), the bonding surfaces are irradiated with a particle beam for activating the bonding surfaces, and concurrently the bonding surfaces are also irradiated with silicon particles. It is thereby possible to increase the bonding strength of the substrates (301, 302).

In a plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, an electron beam is employed as the plasma source, and a remote radical source is incorporated with the process chamber.

An ion implantation machine includes an enclosure that is connected to a pump device, a negatively polarized substrate-carrier that is arranged inside the enclosure, and a plasma feed device in the form of a generally cylindrical body extending between an initial section and a terminal section, the device having a main chamber provided with an ionization cell, the main chamber being provided with a gas delivery orifice, and the final section of the main chamber being provided with a head-loss component for creating a pressure drop relative to the body. Furthermore, the plasma feed device also includes an auxiliary chamber arranged beyond the final section, the auxiliary chamber opening out into the enclosure at the terminal section.

A plasma treatment device is provided and includes a first electrode, a dielectric body supportive of the first electrode and a second mesh electrode having an opposite polarity as the first electrode and comprising a seating portion. The second mesh electrode is disposed proximate to the dielectric body to define a gap receptive of particles for collection in the seating portion. The gap is sized such that, with the second mesh electrode activated, a plasma field is generated to treat the particles in the seating portion. The seating portion is configured to retain the particles during treatment in opposition to ionic winds resulting from the plasma field.