A helical wave plasma processing device

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of plasma sources, and discloses a helical wave plasma processing device, comprising a wiring assembly, an insulating member, a bias electrode ring and a discharge tube, wherein the wiring assembly is connected to the insulating member, and the insulating member is sequentially arranged along the length extension direction of the wiring assembly, the bias electrode ring is mounted on the insulating member, the wiring assembly is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring, and the discharge tube is surrounded by the outer side of the insulating member and is not electrically connected to the bias electrode ring and the wiring assembly. The beneficial effects of the present invention are: simple manufacturing process, low cost, convenient laboratory self-production, and simple operation. Compared with the existing method of adjusting the discharge parameters of the helical wave plasma source to generate blue core plasma, the present invention is more direct, does not need to repeatedly test the blue core discharge conditions, can reduce the threshold of the power required by the blue core, and generate blue core plasma at a lower power, which is conducive to reducing the heat load in the linear device and provides the possibility for the stable operation of the helical wave plasma source.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of plasma sources, and in particular to a helicon wave plasma processing device. Background Art

[0002] The helicon wave plasma source is a radio frequency driven plasma source with the advantages of no electrode, high density, high ionization rate, low confinement magnetic field and controllable device. Since its discovery in the 1960s, it has been widely used in the fields of etching, cleaning and other material surface treatment. In recent years, the helicon wave plasma source has been widely used in the fields of thermonuclear fusion and space electric propulsion, and many large plasma linear devices are equipped with helicon wave plasma sources. With the increase of external power, the state of the helicon wave plasma will undergo a mode transition from capacitive coupling (E-mode), inductive coupling (H-mode) to wave coupling (W-mode). As the discharge power reaches a certain value, blue core plasma will appear in the wave mode, which represents the high ionization and high density state of the helicon wave plasma.

[0003] Many small linear devices use helicon plasma sources to generate blue core plasma at low RF power (1-5 kW), while large linear devices require higher RF power (10-100 kW) to generate blue core plasma. In actual engineering applications, the higher the RF power required to generate a blue core, the stronger the RF radiation and the more difficult the radiation shielding. At the same time, high power will cause a huge heat load on the device, requiring an additional cooling system, which increases the cost of device construction and maintenance. Therefore, it is very necessary to find a way to allow a helicon plasma source to generate a blue core at low power.

[0004] The only way to change the discharge mode of the helicon wave plasma source in existing linear devices is to adjust the discharge parameters, such as RF power, magnetic field configuration or gas pressure. There is no method or device that can significantly reduce the blue core power threshold. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a helicon wave plasma processing device to achieve the requirement of lowering the transition power threshold of a helicon wave plasma source to generate blue core plasma.

[0006] The purpose of this application is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0007] A helicon wave plasma processing device comprises: a wiring assembly, an insulating member, a bias electrode ring and a discharge tube, wherein the wiring assembly is connected to the insulating member, and the insulating member is arranged in sequence along the length extension direction of the wiring assembly, the bias electrode ring is installed on the insulating member, the wiring assembly is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring, and the discharge tube is surrounded by the outside of the insulating member and is not electrically connected to the bias electrode ring and the wiring assembly.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present application, a baffle is further included, which is installed in the discharge tube and has a first through hole. The baffle is arranged close to the air inlet end of the discharge tube, and the bias electrode ring is arranged on a side of the baffle away from the air inlet end of the discharge tube.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present application, the baffle is installed on the insulating member.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present application, the insulating member is provided with a second through hole, and the wiring assembly is passed through the second through hole.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present application, the wiring assembly, the insulating member and the bias electrode ring are all multiple, the second through holes are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the wiring assemblies, and at least one of the second through holes is open close to one side of the bias electrode ring.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present application, one of the second through holes on the insulating member opens close to one side of the bias electrode ring, and the opening of the second through hole of each of the insulating members is located at a different position of the wiring assembly.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present application, the insulating member is annular in structure, the bias electrode ring is clamped on the inner ring of the insulating member, the second through hole is opened along the thickness direction of the insulating member, and the second through holes are opened in the insulating member at circumferential intervals.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present application, the wiring assembly includes a lead tube and a conductive lead, the lead tube is sleeved on the outer circumference of the conductive lead, and the conductive lead is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present application, the outer side surface of the insulating member is tightly fitted with the inner side surface of the discharge tube, so as to restrict the gas to flow only from the middle of the bias electrode ring.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present application, a power supply is further included, wherein the positive pole of the power supply is electrically connected to the wiring assembly, and the negative pole of the power supply is grounded; or, the negative pole of the power supply is electrically connected to the wiring assembly, and the positive pole of the power supply is grounded.

[0017] In the spiral wave plasma processing device of the present application, the wiring assembly, the insulating member and the bias electrode ring are all arranged in the discharge tube, the manufacturing process is simple, the cost is low, the laboratory is convenient to make, and the operation is simple. Compared with the existing method of adjusting the discharge parameters of the spiral wave plasma source to generate blue core plasma, the present application is more direct and does not require repeated testing of the blue core discharge conditions. It can be clearly seen that originally only low-density spiral wave plasma is generated at a certain power, and the bias electrode ring promotes the formation of high-density blue core plasma at this power, indicating that the threshold of the power required for the blue core is reduced, and the blue core plasma is generated at a lower power, which is beneficial to reducing the heat load in the linear device and providing the possibility for the stable operation of the spiral wave plasma source. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the helicon wave plasma processing device of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 A front view of the baffle position of the helicon wave plasma processing device of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3 A front view of the position of the bias electrode ring of the helicon wave plasma processing device of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the working state of the helicon wave plasma processing device of the present application.

[0022] In the figure, 1, wiring assembly; 11, lead tube; 12, conductive lead; 2, insulating member; 21, second through hole; 3, bias electrode ring; 4, discharge tube; 5, baffle; 51, first through hole; 6, power supply. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The specific implementation of the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and examples. The following examples are used to illustrate the present invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0024] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. used in the present application to indicate the orientation or position relationship is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0025] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0026] like Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, an embodiment of the present application proposes a spiral wave plasma processing device, comprising: a wiring assembly 1, an insulating member 2, a bias electrode ring 3 and a discharge tube 4, wherein the wiring assembly 1 is connected to the insulating member 2, and the insulating member 2 is arranged in sequence along the length extension direction of the wiring assembly 1, the bias electrode ring 3 is installed on the insulating member 2, the wiring assembly 1 is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring 3, and the discharge tube 4 is surrounded by the outside of the insulating member 2 and is not electrically connected to the bias electrode ring 3 and the wiring assembly 1.

[0027] Based on the above technical scheme, in the spiral wave plasma processing device of the present application, the wiring assembly 1, the insulating member 2 and the bias electrode ring 3 are all arranged in the discharge tube 4, and the wiring assembly 1 and the discharge tube 4 are separated by the insulating member 2 to prevent the two from interfering with each other, and the bias electrode ring 3 is installed on the insulating member 2, which is arranged in the discharge tube 4, and the power is transmitted to the bias electrode ring 3 through the wiring assembly 1, so that the bias electrode ring 3 is used to directly output the radial electric field in the discharge tube 4, and the discharge is more direct. At the same time, the discharge tube 4, the bias electrode ring 3 and the wiring assembly 1 are all not conductive, so as to avoid the reliability problem caused by the different currents of the three.

[0028] The present invention has a simple manufacturing process, low cost, convenient laboratory self-production, and simple operation. Compared with the existing method of adjusting the discharge parameters of the spiral wave plasma source to generate blue core plasma, the present application is more direct and does not require repeated testing of the blue core discharge conditions. It can be clearly seen that originally only low-density spiral wave plasma was generated at a certain power, and the bias electrode ring 3 promotes the formation of high-density blue core plasma at this power, indicating that the threshold of the power required for the blue core is reduced, and the blue core plasma is generated at a lower power, which is beneficial to reducing the heat load in the linear device and providing the possibility for the stable operation of the spiral wave plasma source.

[0029] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4As shown, the baffle 5 is also included, the baffle 5 is installed in the discharge tube 4 and has a first through hole 51, the baffle 5 is arranged near the gas inlet end of the discharge tube 4, and the bias electrode ring 3 is arranged on the side of the baffle 5 away from the gas inlet end of the discharge tube 4. The baffle 5 is arranged near the gas inlet end of the discharge tube 4, and its main function is to prevent the blue core plasma affected by the electric field of the bias electrode ring 3 from flowing back toward the gas inlet end of the discharge tube 4, but in order not to affect the normal gas intake, the baffle 5 is also provided with a first through hole 51 for gas intake, the first through hole 51 is small in size, and can effectively prevent the backflow of the blue core plasma without affecting the gas passage; further, the baffle 5 is preferably a solid ceramic plate, the ceramic material is non-conductive, has a certain strength and is not expensive, and can effectively prevent the backflow of the blue core plasma; in addition, the first through holes 51 are preferably evenly distributed along the edge of the baffle 5, and the ventilation uniformity is good, which is convenient for the gas to pass through to the rear area for discharge.

[0030] Specifically, Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4 As shown, the baffle 5 is mounted on the insulating member 2. The discharge tube 4 is cylindrical, and it is difficult to install the baffle 5 inside the discharge tube 4. Therefore, the baffle 5 can be installed by using the insulating member 2 provided with a mounting position for mounting the bias electrode ring 3. The baffle 5 only needs to be clamped on an insulating member 2 close to the air inlet end.

[0031] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, the insulating member 2 is provided with a second through hole 21, and the wiring assembly 1 is passed through the second through hole 21. The second through hole 21 is used to facilitate the wiring assembly 1 to pass through, thereby facilitating the arrangement of the wiring assembly 1 and the sequential arrangement of the insulating member 2.

[0032] Specifically, Figure 1-Figure 4As shown, the wiring assembly 1, the insulating member 2 and the bias electrode ring 3 are all multiple, and the second through holes 21 are arranged one by one with the wiring assembly 1, and at least one of the second through holes 21 is opened near the side of the bias electrode ring 3. The second through hole 21 is opened near the side of the bias electrode ring 3, so that the wiring assembly 1 can directly contact the bias electrode ring 3, thereby facilitating the wiring assembly 1 and the bias electrode ring 3 to achieve electrical connection, wherein the wiring assembly 1 and the bias electrode ring 3 are preferably connected by welding, and the electrical connection is more reliable; it should be noted that the opening of at least one second through hole 21 includes multiple situations, for example, a wiring assembly 1 is connected in series with multiple bias electrode rings 3, then the opening is opened on the second through hole 21 at the same position, and the multiple bias electrode rings 3 to be connected in series are all welded to the wiring assembly 1, or a bias electrode ring 3 is connected to multiple wiring assemblies 1, then different second through holes 21 of an insulating member 2 can be opened, and different wiring assemblies 1 can be welded to the same bias electrode ring 3; through the above method, different forms of electrification of the bias electrode ring 3 can be achieved to meet different needs.

[0033] More specifically, Figure 3 As shown, one of the second through holes 21 on the insulating member 2 opens close to one side of the bias electrode ring 3, and the opening of the second through hole 21 of each insulating member 2 is located at a different position of the wiring assembly 1. In order to further determine the influence of the bias electrode ring 3 at different positions on the blue core plasma, only one second through hole 21 has an opening on each insulating member 2, and the opening positions on each insulating member 2 are different, so that each wiring assembly 1 can only be connected to one bias electrode ring 3, and the bias electrode rings 3 are sequentially arranged along the length direction in the discharge tube 4. By controlling the power supply 6 connected to each wiring assembly 1 to be consistent, it is possible to obtain the influence of the bias electrode rings 3 at different positions on the blue core plasma, thereby finally obtaining the optimal structural form.

[0034] More specifically, Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, the insulating member 2 is annular in structure, the bias electrode ring 3 is clamped to the inner ring of the insulating member 2, the second through hole 21 is opened along the thickness direction of the insulating member 2, and the second through holes 21 are circumferentially spaced apart from each other on the insulating member 2. The insulating member 2 is annular in structure, and the clamping of the bias electrode ring 3 can be realized conveniently and quickly, and it only needs to be clamped on the inner ring of the insulating member 2, and the second through holes 21 are circumferentially spaced apart, and the opening setting is more convenient, and only one of the second through holes 21 needs to be not closed on one side of the bias electrode ring 3.

[0035] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 2As shown, the wiring assembly 1 includes a lead tube 11 and a conductive lead 12, wherein the lead tube 11 is sleeved on the outer periphery of the conductive lead 12, and the conductive lead 12 is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring 3. The lead tube 11 can protect the conductive lead 12 from damage, and is configured as a hollow pipe structure, in which the conductive lead 12 is arranged, which can improve the safety and reliability of the electrical system, and the conductive lead 12 is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring 3, which plays the role of conducting the circuit; preferably, the lead tube 11 is a ceramic structure, which can support the conductive lead 12, and has very good insulation performance.

[0036] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 4 As shown, the outer side surface of the insulating member 2 is tightly fitted with the inner side surface of the discharge tube 4, so as to restrict the gas to flow only from the middle of the bias electrode ring 3. The working fluid gas introduced into the discharge tube 4 will move toward the rear side of the discharge tube 4. During this process, the bias electrode ring 3 is energized to apply an electric field, causing the radial transport change of the plasma. In order to avoid interfering with the plasma discharge while ensuring the radial transport change of the plasma, it is necessary to allow the working fluid gas to flow through the middle of the bias electrode ring 3 as much as possible. Therefore, eliminating the gap between the insulating member 2 and the discharge tube 4 can effectively achieve this purpose.

[0037] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 4 As shown, a power source 6 is also included, the positive electrode of the power source 6 is electrically connected to the wiring assembly 1, and the negative electrode of the power source 6 is grounded; or, the negative electrode of the power source 6 is electrically connected to the wiring assembly 1, and the positive electrode of the power source 6 is grounded. The function of the power source 6 is to provide a positive voltage or a negative voltage to the bias electrode ring 3, so the positive and negative electrodes of the power source 6 can be flexibly selected for connection.

[0038] In summary, in the helicon wave plasma processing device of the present application, the wiring assembly 1, the insulating member 2 and the bias electrode ring 3 are all arranged in the discharge tube 4, the manufacturing process is simple, the cost is low, the laboratory homemade is convenient, and the operation is simple. Compared with the existing method of adjusting the discharge parameters of the helicon wave plasma source to generate blue core plasma, the present application is more direct and does not require repeated testing of the blue core discharge conditions. It can be clearly seen that originally only low-density helicon wave plasma is generated at a certain power, and the bias electrode ring 3 promotes the formation of high-density blue core plasma at this power, indicating that the threshold of the power required for the blue core is reduced, and the blue core plasma is generated at a lower power, which is beneficial to reduce the heat load in the linear device and provide the possibility for the stable operation of the helicon wave plasma source.

[0039] The above is only a preferred implementation of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and substitutions can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present application. These improvements and substitutions should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A helicon plasma processing device, characterized in that: include: A wiring assembly, an insulating member, a bias electrode ring and a discharge tube, wherein the wiring assembly is connected to the insulating member, and the insulating member is sequentially arranged along the length extension direction of the wiring assembly, the bias electrode ring is mounted on the insulating member, the wiring assembly is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring, and the discharge tube is surrounded by the outside of the insulating member and is not electrically connected to the bias electrode ring and the wiring assembly.

2. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a baffle, which is installed in the discharge tube and has a first through hole. The baffle is arranged close to the air inlet end of the discharge tube, and the bias electrode ring is arranged on a side of the baffle away from the air inlet end of the discharge tube.

3. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The baffle is mounted on the insulating member.

4. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The insulating member is provided with a second through hole, and the wiring assembly is passed through the second through hole.

5. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: There are multiple wiring assemblies, multiple insulating members, and multiple bias electrode rings. The second through holes are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the wiring assemblies, and at least one of the second through holes opens close to one side of the bias electrode ring.

6. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: One of the second through holes on the insulating member opens close to one side of the bias electrode ring, and the opening of the second through hole of each of the insulating members is located at a different position of the wiring assembly.

7. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The insulating member is annular in structure, the bias electrode ring is clamped on the inner ring of the insulating member, the second through holes are opened along the thickness direction of the insulating member, and the second through holes are opened in the insulating member at intervals in the circumferential direction.

8. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wiring assembly includes a lead tube and a conductive lead, wherein the lead tube is sleeved on the outer circumference of the conductive lead, and the conductive lead is electrically connected to the bias electrode ring.

9. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer side surface of the insulating member is closely fitted to the inner side surface of the discharge tube, so as to limit the gas to flow only from the middle of the bias electrode ring.

10. The helicon wave plasma processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a power supply, the positive pole of the power supply is electrically connected to the wiring assembly, and the negative pole of the power supply is grounded; or, the negative pole of the power supply is electrically connected to the wiring assembly, and the positive pole of the power supply is grounded.

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