EP2529601B1 - Miniaturisierbare plasmaquelle - Google Patents

Miniaturisierbare plasmaquelle Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2529601B1
EP2529601B1 EP11704740.7A EP11704740A EP2529601B1 EP 2529601 B1 EP2529601 B1 EP 2529601B1 EP 11704740 A EP11704740 A EP 11704740A EP 2529601 B1 EP2529601 B1 EP 2529601B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
coil
hollow body
plasma source
active element
source according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP11704740.7A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2529601A1 (de
Inventor
Silvio Kuehn
Roland Gesche
Horia-Eugen Porteanu
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Forschungsverbund Berlin FVB eV
Original Assignee
Forschungsverbund Berlin FVB eV
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Publication date
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Priority to PL11704740T priority Critical patent/PL2529601T3/pl
Publication of EP2529601A1 publication Critical patent/EP2529601A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2529601B1 publication Critical patent/EP2529601B1/de
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
    • H05H1/00—Generating plasma; Handling plasma
    • H05H1/24—Generating plasma
    • H05H1/46—Generating plasma using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
    • H05H1/00—Generating plasma; Handling plasma
    • H05H1/24—Generating plasma
    • H05H1/46—Generating plasma using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy
    • H05H1/4645—Radiofrequency discharges
    • H05H1/4652—Radiofrequency discharges using inductive coupling means, e.g. coils
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
    • H05H2240/00—Testing
    • H05H2240/10—Testing at atmospheric pressure
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
    • H05H2245/00—Applications of plasma devices
    • H05H2245/60—Portable devices

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a miniaturizable plasma source and its use.
  • Plasma i. At least partially ionized gas may be used in a variety of engineering applications, such as surface coating, surface activation, sterilization, etching, and the like.
  • conventional plasma sources are expensive, large, operate at low gas pressures, and have high power consumption. There is therefore a need for a low cost miniaturizable plasma source that operates at atmospheric pressure and low power consumption.
  • the invention therefore introduces a plasma source having an oscillator having an active element and a resonator connected to the active element.
  • the resonator has a hollow body, a gas inlet, a gas outlet arranged at a distal end of the hollow body about a longitudinal axis of the hollow body and a coil arranged along the longitudinal axis of the hollow body with an effective length of one quarter of a wavelength at a resonance frequency of the resonator.
  • a distal end of the coil is disposed relative to the gas outlet so that a plasma path can form between the distal end of the coil acting as a first plasma electrode and the gas outlet of the hollow body functioning as a second plasma electrode.
  • the coil is led out at a proximal end of the hollow body from the interior of the hollow body by an electrically contact-free passage, wherein "electrically contact-free" means that there is no conductive connection between the coil and the hollow body in the region of the implementation.
  • a proximal end of the coil contacts the hollow body on the outside thereof.
  • the coil is located at a first contact area located between the proximal end of the coil and the leadthrough with a first gate of the active element and at a second contact area located between the proximal end of the coil and the leadthrough coupled to the second gate of the active element.
  • the first contact region and the second contact region are spatially not identical.
  • the first port may be an output of the active element acting as an amplifier and the second port an input of the active element.
  • the plasma source of the invention can be miniaturized and thus embodied as a portable device.
  • the plasma acts as a load after ignition and determines the resonance characteristics of the resonator and the entire resonant circuit.
  • the coupling out of the resonator via the second contact region to the second gate of the active element is high, so that the arrangement corresponds to the circuit topology of a feedback amplifier and resonates reliably.
  • the oscillation of the feedback amplifier generates a field strength in the resonator, which is needed for the ignition of the plasma. Accordingly, the plasma is ignited upon reaching a power dependent on the circumstances such as the type of gas, etc.
  • the plasma source of the invention offers the additional advantage that a simple mechanical construction of the resonator becomes possible.
  • the coil is out of contact electrically out of the hollow body to the outside, it can outside the hollow body by simple means such.
  • Micro-strip lines are realized, which are inexpensive to produce.
  • the resonator needs except the coil in the interior of the hollow body to have no further elements.
  • the first contact region may be coupled to the first gate of the active element via a first capacitor.
  • the first capacitor not only blocks any DC voltage that may be present for the operating point setting of the active element, but also contributes to the resonance, which simplifies the oscillation of the oscillator. It is therefore in this preferred embodiment to a coupled multi-circuit resonant circuit.
  • the coil may be inductively coupled at the second contact region with the second gate of the active element.
  • This embodiment variant has the advantage that the signal feedback to the second port of the active element is automatically terminated when the plasma ignites, since then the entire active power coupled into the resonator by the active element is used for the excitation of the plasma and the current in the coil becomes zero or at least approximately zero in the second contact region, so that no more required for the inductive coupling magnetic field is generated.
  • the plasma source may have a feedback line, which is arranged and formed in the second contact region along the coil and spaced therefrom Inductively couple the coil to the second gate of the active element.
  • the coil is preferably not wound in the part located outside of the hollow body, that is to say it is designed as a simple conductor, so that the coil and the feedback line can easily be guided along one another.
  • the feedback line preferably contacts the hollow body on the outside thereof.
  • the feedback line may be coupled to the second port of the active element via a second capacitor.
  • the coil between the passage and the proximal end of the coil is designed as a micro-strip line.
  • the feedback line can be designed as a micro-strip line.
  • the first port of the active element is connected to a first matching network and the second port of the active element is connected to a second matching network.
  • the power transmission between the individual components of the arrangement can be optimized.
  • the first matching network may include a first variable capacitor and the second matching network a second variable capacitor. This variant has the advantage that an adjustment of the adjustment during operation can be made.
  • the plasma source may have a first DC supply connected to the first port of the active element and a second DC supply connected to the second port of the active element.
  • the active element preferably has a GaN transistor or is a GaN transistor.
  • GaN transistors can provide the power required to operate a plasma source, even at high frequencies in the gigahertz range.
  • the second gate of the active element may be the gate of the GaN transistor.
  • the GaN transistor is preferably connected in source circuit.
  • the first gate of the active element may be the drain of the GaN transistor.
  • the hollow body of the resonator may be cylindrical. This results in a waveguide structure around the coil, which is preferably designed along the axis of the resonator, which has particularly good resonance properties.
  • the plasma source may have a gas supply connected to the gas inlet, which is designed to pump a plasma gas through the gas inlet into the hollow body of the resonator.
  • a gas supply connected to the gas inlet, which is designed to pump a plasma gas through the gas inlet into the hollow body of the resonator.
  • a continuous flow of plasma from the gas outlet of the resonator is effected, which can be used for a variety of applications.
  • the plasma source is operated, for example, with a nitrogen-oxygen mixture such as air, nitrogen oxide and ozone are formed in the plasma, whereby the ratio between nitrogen oxide and ozone can be influenced by the ratio of nitrogen to oxygen. It is also possible to produce only either ozone or nitric oxide. Ozone can be used to kill germs, and nitric oxide improves wound healing.
  • the oscillator of the invention preferably functions as a reflection oscillator when the plasma is ignited.
  • the active element may be operated in different modes, e.g. Class A, AB, B or C operation.
  • a second aspect of the invention relates to the use of a plasma source according to the first aspect of the invention for the activation, cleaning, sterilization and coating of surfaces, for etching and for the purification of water and exhaust gases.
  • VHF plasma source for generating gas discharges for surface processing is in document DE 4 337 119 A disclosed.
  • Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a plasma source according to the invention.
  • the plasma source according to the invention has an oscillator structure.
  • An output of an active component 1, which provides the electrical amplification required for stable oscillation, is connected to a resonator 2 via a first matching network 5.
  • the resonator 2 has the task to generate the necessary ZündfeldCh and set the frequency of the oscillation.
  • the resonator 2 in turn is in turn connected via a second matching network 4 to an input of the active component 1, so that a feedback arises.
  • the resonator 2 at the same time forms the plasma chamber of the plasma source, an embodiment is preferred in which a gas for the generation of the plasma is passed through the resonator 2, which is ignited so continuously by the oscillation of the oscillator at a sufficiently high E-field.
  • the ignited plasma 3 influences the electrical properties of the resonator 2 and acts on the output and input of the resonator 2 back, so it is shown as part of the equivalent circuit of the plasma source.
  • Fig. 2 shows in two sub-pictures different operating states of the plasma source according to the invention.
  • Fig. 2A is the state of the plasma source before ignition of the gas and in Fig. 2B shown ignited gas.
  • idle mode ie in the state without ignited gas, the oscillator has the circuit topology of a feedback amplifier with heavily mismatched load. That is, the impedance to the resonator 2 has a large reactive component, and the complex power P 1 transmitted between the first matching network 5 and the resonator 2 is also very blind, that is, its imaginary component is large.
  • P 1 the few registered effective power Re (P 1 )
  • P 2 therefore has a relatively large real part.
  • the difference Re (P 2 ) - Re (P 1 ) is converted into heat by the losses of the resonator 2, but also generates the necessary field strength in the resonator 2 to ignite the plasma 3.
  • the impedance Z with large imaginary part changes into a predominantly real resistance.
  • the transmitted power P 1 is now real and thus represents an active power.
  • the power P 2 is very blind and a pronounced active power transport from the resonator to the input of the active device 1 is now missing.
  • the oscillator thus operates in the operating state with ignited plasma as a kind of reflection oscillator, wherein the reflecting load is represented by the output of the resonator 2 and the input of the active component 1 offers the required negative impedance.
  • the input of the resonator 2 is well adapted.
  • Fig. 3 a circuit diagram shows a preferred embodiment of the plasma source according to the invention.
  • the DC voltages at the input and output of the active component 1 can be specified by voltage sources 14 and 15 via Abkoppelwideriron 12 and 13 and thus the operating point of the active component 1 can be set.
  • capacitors 10 and 11 with adjustable capacitance are preferably connected between input and output of the active component 1 and ground, which function as matching networks.
  • Input and output of the active component 1 are connected in the illustrated embodiment via a respective coupling capacitor 8 and 9 with the resonator, which is designed in the preferred embodiment shown as a cylindrical hollow body 6, wherein at opposite end faces a gas inlet and a gas outlet for the Passage of the plasma gas are provided.
  • a coiled to a coil 7 ⁇ / 4-line is arranged, which is conductively connected to the cylindrical hollow body 6 on the outside thereof.
  • Both the wound part of the ⁇ / 4 line, as well as lying outside the hollow body 6 parts of the ⁇ / 4 line are referred to here as the coil 7.
  • the cylindrical hollow body 6 also has a coupling which is realized by a feedback line connected to the coupling capacitor 9 and guided at least partially along the part of the coil 7 lying outside the hollow body 6.
  • Fig. 4 shows an enlarged section of the circuit diagram of Fig. 3 , Shown is the resonator with the hollow body 6 and the coil 7. Clearer than in Fig. 3 It can be seen here that the coil 7 is guided in an electrically non-contact bushing 16 through the hollow body 6 to the outside.
  • a gas-impermeable insulator may be arranged between the coil 7 and the hollow body 6, or else the bushing 16 may be used as gas inlet.
  • the coil 7 is outside of the hollow body 6 preferably designed as an easy-to-implement micro-strip line and contacts the hollow body 6. Such an arrangement can be produced more cost-effectively and more robust than previously known resonator arrangements.
  • a first contact region 18 which is arranged between the leadthrough 16 and the end of the coil 7 which is conductively connected to the hollow body 6, the coil 7 is coupled via a first capacitor to the first gate of the active element.
  • the first contact region 18 is located outside the hollow body 6 and in relative proximity to the end of the coil, which, however, represents a ground point and therefore can not simultaneously serve to couple in the signal of the active element. For this reason, the first contact area 18 is spaced from the end of the coil connected to the hollow body 6. Also, between the passage 16 and connected to the hollow body 6 end of the coil, there is a second contact area 17. In the example shown, the second contact area is located between the feedthrough 16 and the first contact region 18.
  • the second contact region 17 serves to produce a feedback to the active element, which ensures the oscillation of the oscillator and the ignition of the plasma.
  • This feedback is preferably implemented inductively by a likewise connected to the hollow body 6 feedback line 19, which may be inexpensively designed as a micro-strip line, is guided along a portion of the coil 7, which is arranged outside of the hollow body 6.
  • the feedback line 19 is thus inductively coupled to the coil 7 and redirects the received from the coil 7 oscillation to the active element.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
  • Plasma Technology (AREA)
EP11704740.7A 2010-01-29 2011-01-28 Miniaturisierbare plasmaquelle Not-in-force EP2529601B1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PL11704740T PL2529601T3 (pl) 2010-01-29 2011-01-28 Dające się zminiaturyzować źródło plazmy

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE102010001395A DE102010001395B4 (de) 2010-01-29 2010-01-29 Miniaturisierbare Plasmaquelle
PCT/EP2011/051234 WO2011092298A1 (de) 2010-01-29 2011-01-28 Miniaturisierbare plasmaquelle

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2529601A1 EP2529601A1 (de) 2012-12-05
EP2529601B1 true EP2529601B1 (de) 2015-03-11

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP11704740.7A Not-in-force EP2529601B1 (de) 2010-01-29 2011-01-28 Miniaturisierbare plasmaquelle

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US8796934B2 (pl)
EP (1) EP2529601B1 (pl)
DE (1) DE102010001395B4 (pl)
PL (1) PL2529601T3 (pl)
WO (1) WO2011092298A1 (pl)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102020100872A1 (de) 2020-01-15 2021-07-15 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz- Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik Resonator und Leistungsoszillator zum Aufbau einer integrierten Plasmaquelle sowie deren Verwendung

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102010001395B4 (de) 2010-01-29 2013-11-14 Forschungsverbund Berlin E.V. Miniaturisierbare Plasmaquelle

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102020100872A1 (de) 2020-01-15 2021-07-15 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz- Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik Resonator und Leistungsoszillator zum Aufbau einer integrierten Plasmaquelle sowie deren Verwendung
WO2021144432A1 (de) 2020-01-15 2021-07-22 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik Resonator und leistungsoszillator zum aufbau einer integrierten plasmaquelle sowie deren verwendung
DE102020100872B4 (de) 2020-01-15 2021-08-05 Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH, Leibniz- Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik Resonator und Leistungsoszillator zum Aufbau einer integrierten Plasmaquelle sowie deren Verwendung

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20120313524A1 (en) 2012-12-13
DE102010001395A1 (de) 2011-08-04
DE102010001395B4 (de) 2013-11-14
US8796934B2 (en) 2014-08-05
WO2011092298A1 (de) 2011-08-04
PL2529601T3 (pl) 2015-08-31
EP2529601A1 (de) 2012-12-05

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