Dielectric barrier discharge excimer (V)UV light sources

Summary form only given. Dielectric barrier discharges in rare gases and mixtures of rare gases/halogens near atmospheric gas pressure enable to generate incoherent, spectrally selective and narrow-banded excimer (V)UV radiation. Based on the feature to produce powerful (V)UV radiation in non-equilibrium discharge plasmas (i.e., cold plasmas), these unique (V)UV light sources have emerged in the photochemical processing of temperature-sensitive and charge-sensitive surfaces. While the application of large-area Xe/sub 2/* excimer VUV light source systems has established as a superior cleaning tool in LCD panel manufacturing, semiconductor processing and UV lithography, novel applications for Xe/sub 2/* (172nm), KrCl* (222nm), XeBr* (282nm) and XeCl* (308nm) excimer LW light sources are emerging in various surface treatment applications, such as UV curing, etching, thin-film deposition, and surface conditioning (wettability). After a brief discussion of the major differences between the characteristics of incoherent excimer (V)UV light sources and traditional (V)UV light sources, the article will focus on few selected photochemical surface processing applications. Advantages and disadvantages to alternative UV light sources will be given. In this context, the 172nm VO/sub 2/ cleaning process will be outlined and compared to conventional photochemical cleaning alternatives that employ low-pressure mercury lamps. Similarly, other emerging photochemical surface processing applications, such as the large-area UV curing of resins, increase in wettability, and deposition of thin organo-metallic films as well as SiO/sub 2/ will be outlined.