High-Pressure Plasma Lamp Fabrication Without a Fill Port
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional plasma lamps with fill ports are prone to non-uniformity and weak spots, limiting their maximum operating pressure due to process variations in the fill port attachment and sealing, which is problematic for high-pressure applications.
Innovation Solution
A method for fabricating high-pressure plasma lamps without a seal port, involving a lamp bulb with top and bottom channels, where electrodes are inserted and sealed within the bulb, and a glass tubular structure is used to eliminate the need for a fill port, allowing for higher operating pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a fill port is used for inserting gas into the plasma lamp, then the lamp can be filled with working gas, but the fill port creates non-uniformity and weak spots that reduce the maximum operating pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the fill port entirely from the lamp structure. Instead of having a separate filling operation through a port, the gas filling is integrated into the lamp manufacturing process itself, eliminating the weak spot and non-uniformity that the fill port creates in the bulb structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the gas filling operation with the lamp manufacturing process. The fill port attachment and sealing operations are merged into the primary lamp fabrication process, ensuring uniform construction throughout the lamp body and eliminating the fill port as a separate component that would create stress concentration points.
2Manufacturing precision
If process variation in fill port attachment and sealing is reduced, then lamp uniformity improves, but this requires additional manufacturing precision that increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the fill port entirely, the patent eliminates the source of manufacturing variation. The complex processes of fill port attachment and sealing are extracted from the design, replacing them with a simpler integrated structure that achieves uniformity without requiring high-precision assembly operations.
3Ease of operation
If the lamp structure is made non-uniform to accommodate a fill port, then gas filling is enabled, but the weak spot reduces reliability at high pressures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the fill port component that creates the weak spot. The gas filling capability is maintained through integration into the manufacturing process rather than through a separate port structure, thereby preserving operational capability while eliminating the reliability issue at high pressures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by ensuring uniform wall thickness and structural properties throughout the entire lamp body. By eliminating the fill port region with its different structural characteristics, the lamp achieves consistent mechanical properties locally throughout, which enhances overall reliability under high pressure conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a stronger plasma lamp capable of operating at high pressures without the weak points associated with traditional fill ports, enhancing the reliability and performance of plasma lamps for semiconductor wafer inspection tools.
Implementation Method 1
Laser-sustained plasma (LSP) light sources are capable of producing high-power broadband light. Laser-sustained light sources operate by focusing laser radiation into a gas volume in order to excite the gas, such as argon or xenon, into a plasma state, which in turn emits broadband light.
Implementation Method 2
focusing laser radiation into a gas volume in order to excite the gas, such as argon or xenon, into a plasma state, which in turn emits broadband light
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a high-pressure plasma lamp includes providing a lamp bulb. The lamp bulb includes a top channel and a bottom channel. The method includes inserting a top electrode element into the top channel of the lamp bulb. The method includes providing a glass tubular structure attached to a bottom electrode element. The method includes filling the lamp bulb with a liquified gas through the bottom channel of the lamp bulb. The method includes inserting the bottom electrode element and the glass tubular structure into the bottom channel.