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K1050X Questions and Answers

What is the difference between plasma etching or ashing and glow discharge?
Glow discharge is an "imperfect plasma". Glow discharge is used to alter surface energies to make hydrophobic (water hating) surfaces hydrophilic (water loving). Glow discharge will also remove adsorbed gases from the chambers of vacuum systems and in doing so improve pump down speed and ultimate vacuum levels.
This is the limit of what glow discharge can do - it will not plasma "etch" or "ash" samples.
RF plasma reactors can alter surface energies, de-gas and remove materials from samples in a controlled way (etching or ashing).

What is the difference between etching and ashing?
Ashing is the total removal of organic matter using oxygen plasma. Mineral components of the sample will be left behind as a residue (ash). The by-products of this process - mainly carbon oxides and water vapour - are pumped away by the vacuum pump.
Etching is the controlled removal of layers or part layers of material and is usually confined to semiconductor applications.

How automated is the K1050X
After initial set up of the operating conditions operation is fully automatic (one-button operation).

When must a "Fomblin" vacuum pump be specified?
When oxygen is to be used as a process gas it has the potential to combine explosively with normal organic types of rotary pump oils. Fomblin is a synthetic oil and will not react in this way. Fomblin is also resistant to most of the highly corrosive plasma process gases

What is the capacitance manometer and when should it be specified as an option?
The capacitance manometer measures vacuum. The standard plasma system uses a conventional Pirani gauge for this purpose. However if corrosive halogenated gases are used on a regular basis, they have the potential to attack (erode) the Pirani vacuum gauge filament. In such cases (mainly in semiconductor conductor applications) the capacitance manometer option is strongly recommended because it is resistant to attack by corrosive gases.