Charge neutralisation of microparticles by pulsing a low-pressure shielded spatial plasma afterglow

Minderhout, Boy van; Huijstee, J.C.A. van; Peijnenburg, A. T. A.; Blom, P.; Kroesen, G.M.W.; Beckers, JL Jozef

doi:10.1088/1361-6595/abd81f

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The experimental setup used, schematically shown in Figure 1, has been extensively described in our previous works [30,[34][35][36][37]. Therefore, only a short overview of the key characteristics is included here, along with the implemented changes that are relevant for this work.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Just outside the field of view are two parallel Rogowski shaped electrodes [39,40], which can be used to apply a homogeneous horizontal electric field, for example when investigating microparticle charging, as was done in our previous works [11,30,[34][35][36][37]. The electrodes are each attached to a supporting plate made of PEEK (polyether ether ketone).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous research focused on the (de-)charging of microparticles in the spatial afterglow of a low pressure inductively coupled plasma (ICP). In that research, the trajectories of injected particles and the influence of the electrostatic force generated by an externally applied electric field thereon were investigated for various plasma parameters and configurations [30,[34][35][36][37]. In the current paper we present experiments monitoring the trajectories of falling microparticles experiencing a combination of a spatial and a temporal afterglow plasma, in which an additional neutral drag force is revealed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-Temporal Plasma Afterglow Induces Additional Neutral Drag Force on Microparticles

Huijstee

Blom²,

Peijnenburg³

et al. 2022

Front. Phys.

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An emerging topic in complex plasma physics is the interaction between dust particles and afterglow plasmas. Control of plasma-particle interactions and specifically of the particle trajectories is especially relevant for plasma based contamination control applications. In systems where this contamination control is relevant, emerging or applied plasmas can be of highly transient nature, due to which contaminating particles interact with a combination of a spatial and a temporal afterglow plasma. Until now this type of plasmas and the possible interaction with embedded microparticles has remained far from fully explored in literature. In this work we visually record falling microparticles in a spatio-temporal afterglow of a low pressure inductively coupled plasma and observe a sudden and temporary reversal in their vertical velocity. Numerical simulations confirm that this effect is due to the cooling of the heated background gas in the former active plasma region, which creates a pressure wave and causes microparticles in the spatial afterglow to experience an additional neutral drag force in direction of the plasma bulk. Besides being an interesting principle phenomenon, the presence of this effect could have added value for developing plasma-driven particle contamination control applications. Moreover, for a well defined vacuum vessel geometry and plasma heating volume, this enables the use of microparticles in the spatio-temporal afterglow as probe for the neutral gas temperature in plasma.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-Temporal Plasma Afterglow Induces Additional Neutral Drag Force on Microparticles

Huijstee

Blom²,

Peijnenburg³

et al. 2022

Front. Phys.

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“…Over the years both experimental and numerical works have demonstrated thatdepending on plasma conditions and geometrythe residual charge of microparticles in afterglow plasmas can vary from highly negative, to partly and fully de-charged, and to even highly positive [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of neutral drag force in pulsed plasma enabled particle contamination control

Beckers

Huijstee

Blom³

et al. 2023

Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control XXXVII

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Driven by the continuous decrease of the length scales of fabricated semiconductor structures, ultraclean semiconductor processing equipment suffers more and more from contamination with nano- and micrometer sized particles, which may be introduced in such systems from the outside via gas flows either externally injected or through translational and/or rotational (robotic) feedthroughs. One promising approach to filter contaminating particulates from these gas flows is the application of a plasma particle seal in which airborne particles carried by a gas flow pick up free charges from a plasma and then are deflected by an externally applied electric field in the plasma’s afterglow region. Consecutively, these contaminating particles may be guided to less harmful locations in the system or even be fully removed. In this contribution, we present measurements that reveal the importance of additional drag forces imposed on the particles and the influence of these drag forces on the particles’ trajectories when the plasma is operated in pulsed mode.

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“…The electrons leave somewhat more rapidly, so that it is possible for the microsphere to collect an excess of ions. With this excess collection of ions, the microsphere's charge can reverse polarity, becoming positive and remaining so during the rest of the afterglow [41,57,[62][63][64]67]. With this positive charge, the microspheres experience a vertical electric force, due to the potential on the lower electrode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preservation of a Dust Crystal as it Falls in an Afterglow Plasma

Chaubey

Goree

2022

Front. Phys.

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In an experiment, the power that sustains a plasma was extinguished, so that microspheres, which had been levitated, fell downward toward a lower electrode. At the beginning of their fall, the microspheres were self-organized with a crystalline structure. This structure was found to be preserved as the microspheres accelerated all the way to the lower electrode. Although microspheres had, in this afterglow plasma, large positive charges of 12,500 e, their interparticle repulsion was unable to significantly alter the crystalline arrangement of the microspheres, as they fell. After their impact on the lower electrode, the microspheres bounced upward, and only then was the crystalline structure lost.

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Charge neutralisation of microparticles by pulsing a low-pressure shielded spatial plasma afterglow

Cited by 19 publications

References 56 publications

Spatio-Temporal Plasma Afterglow Induces Additional Neutral Drag Force on Microparticles

Spatio-Temporal Plasma Afterglow Induces Additional Neutral Drag Force on Microparticles

The role of neutral drag force in pulsed plasma enabled particle contamination control

Preservation of a Dust Crystal as it Falls in an Afterglow Plasma

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