9400849 Chen Industrial plasmas are becoming increasingly important in the manufacturing of products ranging from turbine blades to potato chip bags. Particularly important to the U.S. economy are semiconductor chips and flat-panel displays. Present equipment is centered around the RIE (Reactive Ion Etching)tool, which is used almost universally. In recent years, equipment manufacturers have been evaluating new plasma sources with the potential to create larger, more uniform, and denser plasmas, which could improve the efficiency of plasma processing in future generations of manufacturing equipment. One of these new sources is the helicon source, which the author has helped develop under NSF sponsorship. The helicon source is now among the top three alternatives to the RIE discharge that are being considered in industry. However, the potential of the helicon source is far from being realized. The present proposal lists ten projects (not all of which can be supported by the NSF) which are intended to optimize this device for various applications, to compare it with competing devices, and to better understand the operation of industrial plasmas in general. Though these studies are meant to give results of practical utility to industry and the technological superiority of the U.S., they are fundamental and scientific in nature, and are therefore not easily supportable by industrial consortia or the Department of Defense. The objectives are long-term (years instead of months), and we hope that they lie within the mission of the NSF. ***
