Toroidal Plasma Channel with Varying Cross-Section Areas Along the Channel

Abstract

An assembly for adjusting gas flow patterns and gas-plasma interactions including a toroidal plasma chamber. The toroidal plasma chamber has an injection member, an output member, a first side member and a second side member that are all connected. The first side member has a first inner cross-sectional area in at least a portion of the first side member and a second inner cross-sectional area in at least another portion of the first side member, where the first inner cross-sectional area and the second inner-cross-sectional area being different. The second side member has a third inner cross-sectional area in at least a portion of the second side member and a fourth inner cross-sectional area in at least another portion of the second side member, where the third inner cross-sectional area and the fourth inner-cross-sectional area being different.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 560,058, filed Nov. 15, 2011, which is owned by the assignee of the instant application and the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates generally to toroidal plasma devices and more particularly to toroidal plasma devices with channels that can have varying sizes to adjust to different plasma sizes.BACKGROUND[0003]Plasma discharges can be used to excite gases to produce activated gases containing ions, free radicals, atoms and molecules. Activated gases are used for numerous industrial and scientific applications including processing solid materials such as semiconductor wafers, powders, and other gases. The parameters of the plasma and the conditions of the exposure of the plasma to the material being processed vary widely depending on the application.[0004]Plasmas can ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]In various embodiments, the first and second side members are removable. Both the first side member and the second side member can be connected to the injection member and the output member with connectors that create a vacuum seal to prevent leakage of gas and plasma and an electric break. In some embodiments, the connectors can be fluid cooled. The first side member and the second side member can be removable. The size of the first and the second side members can substantially match the size of p

Problems solved by technology

However, performance of the plasma device remains limited by the chamber's design.

In existing toroidal plasma channel designs with a nearly uniform cross-section area, these changes in gas or plasma conditions create undesirable or uncontrolled gas flow patterns and plasma

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