Topic:
Glossary: R
Here you are going to find explications of important terms in plasma technology:
- radiofrequency generator
- see "high-frequency generator"
- recipient
- Case or place where chemical-physical processes take place.
- reduction
- Reduction is the contrary to oxidation, thus the delivery of oxygen. Chemically, reduction means absorption of electrons, since electrons are delivered in an oxidation process.
- refining plastics
- see „pre-treatment of plastics”
- release agents
- Release agents are deliberately applied process additives that are used in the forming of component parts. There are internal release agents in the compound and external release agents that are sprayed onto the mould. Often, release agents are worked into the surface. Via plasma treatments, release agents such as silicones and oils can be removed from the surface in an environmentally gentle manner.
- REM
- „Rasterelektronen-Mikroskopie“ = Atomic Force Microscopy, the most wide-spread technique for imaging of solid bodies with high resolution and depth of sharpness. The surface is irradiated by electrons; the backscatter of secondary electrons is measured whose intensity yields a direct image of the surface.
- remote plasma
- see “downstream reactor”
- removing silicone
- For the removal of silicone, there are common silicone removers that can attack the surface, however. In some cases, it is possible to clean the surfaces via atmospheric plasma.
- RF generator
- see "high-frequency generator"
- RIE
- Reactive Ion Etching is a dry-etching technique that can be applied in various situations and for almost all materials used in electronics and optoelectronics.
The RIE-installation consists of a vacuum chamber (rotary slide valve pump as booster pump, turbomolecular pump as main pump), two electrodes of which the lower one functions in addition as sample holder, the RF generator with appending electronics and the gas feed and exhaust pipes including mass-flow controllers and control elements. After the samples to be etched have been out on the sample holder, the chamber is pumped down to 10^-5 mbar, adjacently the etching gas (alloy) is fed and fired between the electrodes by a high-frequency alternating field. Charged particles of the plasma are accelerated towards the bottom electrode, hit thus also the sample, and ablate layer by layer in a repeatable and anisotropic manner. The etching rate depends on the composition of the gas, the mass flow, the chamber pressure and the power of the alternating field.
