Photo-Resister Ashing with a Plate to Plate Dielectric Barrier Discharge

An atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier discharge (AP-DBD) has a non-thermal behavior even at an atmospheric pressure and the reactor may not require expensive high vacuum components. Departure from the thermal equilibrium is one of the main parameters, which are important for the effective surface treatment. The plasma density, stability and uniformity are also important parameters. These days, atmospheric pressure plasmas are being investigated for applications to main flat panel display processing, photo-resist ashing and etching, for the deposition of organic and inorganic materials for diffusion barriers, etc., and to the wet cleaning processing. The number of photo-resist masking steps has increased recently to more than 30 in some new processes, and stripping of the photo resist mask should eventually be done after any photolithograph process. A dry technique of photo-resist stripping is carried out by oxygen plasma, and this is usually called ashing