Application of microscale plasma to material processing

We generated microscale plasmas using novel electrodes fabricated by lithography and confirmed that Paschen's law can be extended to gaps between electrodes as narrow as 5 mum. To develop the application of a microscale plasma to material processing, we performed plasma chemical vapor deposition (P-CVD) of carbon films with this microscale plasma using a CH4-H-2 gas system, for the first time. We deposited carbon films using various gas ratios of H-2/CH4. Deposits were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microscopy analysis (EPMA), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and Raman spectroscopy. Using Raman spectroscopy, it was found that the bonding nature of these carbon films changed from sp(2) to sp(3) with increasing H-2/CH4 ratio. Lastly, we proposed an integrated plasma processing apparatus on a substrate, namely a plasma chip. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.