Gas discharge apparatus

Apparatus for reacting a gas with a material in the influence of an rf electromagnetic field comprising:

• an evacuable reaction chamber having a generally cylindrical shape,
• closure means at one end of said chamber for introducing material to be modified by reaction into said chamber and for removing modified material from said chamber,
• means for introducing a gas within said chamber,
• means for withdrawing the gas from said chamber,
• means including a coil disposed about the outer wall of said chamber for forming an rf electromagnetic field within said chamber, and
• a perforated metallic cylinder coaxially disposed within said chamber, said perforated metallic cylinder providing a material processing zone therewithin substantially unaffected by nonuniformly distributed and field-perturbed gaseous ionized species formed within said chamber external of said cylinder.

A plasma etching device comprising:

• a cylinder having an end wall and an opposing front opening adapted to receive and expel a gas;
• electrodes surrounding said cylinder and connected to a source of radio frequency energy;
• a perforated cylinder of electrically conductive material within, concentric to, and spaced from the wall of said cylinder, and formed such that it provides a substantially glow free material handling volume within it;
• said perforated cylinder being large enough in diameter to contain within it the material to be etched.