...that in 1800 ether was first used by partyers as a fun diversion? Sniffing the gas led to hilarious and raucous laughter as people watched each other become more and more intoxicated and silly. Several doctors independently realized the value ether would have to anesthetize surgery patients. Of those who claimed rights to the "discovery," none had a happy ending. One had a seizure and died defending his rights. Another spent his life in an asylum because he had been denied acclaim. A third became addicted to chloroform and, in a New York City jail, he soaked a cloth in the drug, severed an artery and bled to death.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7999479 | Conjugated ICP and ECR plasma sources for wide ribbon ion beam generation and control An ion source, capable of generating high-density wide ribbon ion beam, utilizing one or more plasma sources is disclosed. In addition to the plasma source(s), the ion source also includes a diffusion chamber. The diffusion chamber has an extraction aperture oriente... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7746001 | Plasma generator having a power supply with multiple leakage flux coupled transformers A plasma generating apparatus includes a plurality of discharge cells in which a gas is excited by a high frequency excitation signal produced at an inverter. Each of a plurality of transformers couples the excitation signal from the inverter to one of the discharge... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7633231 | Harmonic cold plasma device and associated methods A device for generating atmospheric pressure cold plasma inside a hand-held unit discharges cold plasma with simultaneously different rf wavelengths and their harmonics. The device includes an rf tuning network that is powered by a low-voltage power supply connected... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7426900 | Integrated electrostatic inductive coupling for plasma processing An integrated electrostatic inductively-coupled (i-ESIC) device is provided for plasma processing that may be used as a primary or secondary source for generating a plasma to prepare substrates for, and to process substrates by applying, dielectric and conductive co... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7420182 | Combined radio frequency and hall effect ion source and plasma accelerator system This invention features a combined radio frequency (RF) and Hall Effect ion source and plasma accelerator system including a plasma accelerator having an anode and a discharge zone, the plasma accelerator for providing plasma discharge. A gas distributor introduces ... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7399943 | Apparatus for metal plasma vapor deposition and re-sputter with source and bias power frequencies applied through the workpiece A plasma reactor includes a vacuum chamber including a sidewall, a ceiling and a wafer support pedestal near a floor of the chamber, and a vacuum pump coupled to the chamber. A process gas inlet is coupled to the chamber and a process gas source coupled to the proce... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7399944 | Method and arrangement for controlling a glow discharge plasma under atmospheric conditions The present invention is directed to a method and arrangement for controlling a glow discharge plasma in a gas or gas mixture under atmospheric conditions, in a plasma discharge space comprising at least two spaced electrodes in which at least one plasma pulse havin... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7368916 | Apparatus and methods for making capacitive measurements of cathode fall in fluorescent lamps Apparatus and methods for measuring cathode fall in fluorescent lamps are disclosed. Together with measurements of cathode temperature, such measurements of cathode fall may inform a determination of cathode heater voltage as a function of discharge current (i.e., a... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7363876 | Multi-core transformer plasma source A transformer-coupled plasma source using toroidal cores forms a plasma with a high-density of ions along the center axis of the torus. In one embodiment, cores of a plasma generator are stacked in a vertical alignment to enhance the directionality of the plasma and... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7359177 | Dual bias frequency plasma reactor with feedback control of E.S.C. voltage using wafer voltage measurement at the bias supply output A plasma reactor has a dual frequency plasma RF bias power supply furnishing RF bias power comprising first and second frequency components, f(1), f(2), respectively, and an RF power path having an input end coupled to the plasma RF bias power supply a... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7353771 | Method and apparatus of providing power to ignite and sustain a plasma in a reactive gas generator According to a first aspect, a power supply and a method of providing power for igniting a plasma in a reactive gas generator is provided that includes (i) coupling a series resonant circuit that comprises a resonant inductor and a resonant capacitor between a switc... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7345429 | Methods and apparatus for generating strongly-ionized plasmas with ionizational instabilities Methods and apparatus for generating strongly-ionized plasmas are disclosed. A strongly-ionized plasma generator according to one embodiment includes a chamber for confining a feed gas. An anode and a cathode assembly are positioned inside the chamber. A pulsed powe... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7342361 | Plasma source A plasma source is described. The source includes a reactive impedance element formed from a plurality of electrodes. By providing such a plurality of electrodes and powering adjacent electrodes out of phase with one another, it is possible to improve the characteri... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7338577 | Inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus having internal linear antenna for large area processing An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus for a large area processing, the inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus comprising: a reaction chamber; a plurality of linear antennas horizontally arranged at an inner upper portion of the reaction chamber... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7335611 | Copper conductor annealing process employing high speed optical annealing with a low temperature-deposited optical absorber layer A method of forming a conductor in a thin film structure on a semiconductor substrate includes forming high aspect ratio openings in a base layer having vertical side walls, depositing a dielectric barrier layer comprising a dielectric compound of a barrier metal on... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7331306 | Plasma processing method and apparatus A plasma processing method includes exhausting the interior of a vacuum chamber while supplying gas into the vacuum chamber while maintaining the interior of the vacuum chamber at a desired pressure. A high-frequency power of 100 kHz to 100 MHz is applied to a coil ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7323400 | Plasma processing, deposition and ALD methods A plasma processing method includes providing a substrate in a processing chamber, the substrate having a surface, and generating a plasma in the processing chamber. The plasma provides at least two regions that exhibit different plasma densities. The method include... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7323655 | Inductively coupled plasma reactor for producing nano-powder Disclosed herein is a high-frequency induction plasma reactor apparatus for producing nano-powder, which is configured to continuously manufacture nano-powder in large quantities using solid-phase powder as a starting raw material and to manufacture high-purity nano... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7323401 | Semiconductor substrate process using a low temperature deposited carbon-containing hard mask A method of processing a thin film structure on a semiconductor substrate using an optically writable mask includes placing the substrate in a reactor chamber, the substrate having on its surface a target layer to be etched in accordance with a predetermined pattern... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7320734 | Plasma immersion ion implantation system including a plasma source having low dissociation and low minimum plasma voltage A system for processing a workpiece includes a plasma immersion ion implantation reactor with an enclosure having a side wall and a ceiling and defining a chamber, and a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber having a workpiece support surface facing the ceil... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7319295 | High-frequency power supply structure and plasma CVD device using the same A radio frequency power supply structure and a plasma CVD device comprising the same are provided in which reflection of radio frequency power at a connecting portion where an RF cable connects to an electrode is reduced so that incidence of the radio frequency powe... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7316761 | Apparatus for uniformly etching a dielectric layer Apparatus for plasma etching a layer of material upon a substrate comprising an anode having a first region protruding from a second region, wherein the second region defines a plane and the first region extends from said plane. In one embodiment, at least one solen... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7316199 | Method and apparatus for controlling the magnetic field intensity in a plasma enhanced semiconductor wafer processing chamber A magnetic field generator for producing a magnetic field that accelerates plasma formation is placed proximate a reaction chamber of semiconductor substrate processing system. The magnetic field generator has four main magnetic coil sections for producing a magneti... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312162 | Low temperature plasma deposition process for carbon layer deposition A method of depositing a carbon layer on a workpiece includes placing the workpiece in a reactor chamber, introducing a carbon-containing process gas into the chamber, generating a reentrant toroidal RF plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7311851 | Apparatus and method for reactive atom plasma processing for material deposition Reactive atom plasma processing can be used to shape, polish, planarize, and clean surfaces of difficult materials with minimal subsurface damage. The apparatus and methods use a plasma torch, such as a conventional ICP torch. The workpiece and plasma torch are move... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7312148 | Copper barrier reflow process employing high speed optical annealing A method of forming a barrier layer for a thin film structure on a semiconductor substrate includes forming high aspect ratio openings in a base layer having vertical side walls, depositing a dielectric barrier layer comprising a dielectric compound of a barrier met... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7309961 | Driving frequency modulation system and method for plasma accelerator A plasma accelerator (300) is disclosed that has three separate sections of coils (301-316) disposed outside the plasma chamber (321). The separate sections of coils include an initial discharge section (309-316), an acceler... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7303982 | Plasma immersion ion implantation process using an inductively coupled plasma source having low dissociation and low minimum plasma voltage A method for implanting ions in a surface layer of a workpiece includes placing the workpiece on a workpiece support in a chamber with the surface layer being in facing relationship with a ceiling of the chamber, thereby defining a processing zone between the workpi... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7298091 | Matching network for RF plasma source A compact matching network couples an RF power supply to an RF antenna in a plasma generator. The simple and compact impedance matching network matches the plasma load to the impedance of a coaxial transmission line and the output impedance of an RF amplifier at rad... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7294563 | Semiconductor on insulator vertical transistor fabrication and doping process A process for conformally doping through the vertical and horizontal surfaces of a 3-dimensional vertical transistor in a semiconductor-on-insulator structure employs an RF oscillating torroidal plasma current to perform either conformal ion implantation, or conform... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7291545 | Plasma immersion ion implantation process using a capacitively couple plasma source having low dissociation and low minimum plasma voltage A method of ion implanting a species in a workpiece to a selected ion implantation profile depth includes placing a workpiece having a semiconductor material on an electrostatic chuck in or near a processing region of a plasma reactor chamber and applying a chucking... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7291360 | Chemical vapor deposition plasma process using plural ion shower grids A chemical vapor deposition process is carried out in a reactor chamber having a set of plural parallel ion shower grids that divide the chamber into an upper ion generation region and a lower process region, each of the ion shower grids having plural orifices in mu... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7288491 | Plasma immersion ion implantation process One method of performing plasma immersion ion implantation on a workpiece in a plasma reactor chamber includes initially depositing a seasoning film on the interior surfaces of the plasma reactor chamber before the workpiece is introduced, by introducing a seasoning... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7285916 | Multi chamber plasma process system A multi-chamber plasma process system includes a plurality of process chambers, each of which has an inductively coupled plasma generator. The inductively coupled plasma generator is electrically connected to a main power supply through a first impedance matcher. Th... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7273533 | Plasma processing system with locally-efficient inductive plasma coupling An inductively coupled plasma source is provided with a peripheral ionization source for producing a high-density plasma in a vacuum chamber for semiconductor wafer coating or etching. The source includes a segmented configuration having high and low radiation segme... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7271363 | Portable microwave plasma systems including a supply line for gas and microwaves Portable microwave plasma systems including supply lines for providing microwaves and gas flow are disclosed. The supply line includes at least one gas line or conduit and a microwave coaxial cable. A portable microwave plasma system includes a microwave source, a w... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7268076 | Apparatus and method for metal plasma vapor deposition and re-sputter with source and bias power frequencies applied through the workpiece Physical vapor deposition and re-sputtering of a barrier layer in an integrated circuit is performed by providing a metal target near a ceiling of the chamber and a wafer support pedestal facing the target near a floor of the chamber. A process gas is introduced int... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7264676 | Plasma apparatus and method capable of adaptive impedance matching A plasma apparatus capable of adaptive impedance matching comprises a plasma reactor which can produce plasma to proceed with CVD (chemical vapor deposition) process, a bi-polar electrostatic chuck which locates inside the plasma reactor and is used to support and s... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7259519 | Apparatus and methods for making capacitive measurements of cathode fall in fluorescent lamps Apparatus and methods for measuring cathode fall in fluorescent lamps are disclosed. Together with measurements of cathode temperature, such measurements of cathode fall may inform a determination of cathode heater voltage as a function of discharge current (i.e., a... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7255062 | Pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system A pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system is a simple device that creates a prescribed plasma environment with a prescribed plasma density gradient, and protects an object surrounded by this environment as a shield. Pseudo surface microwaves intera... | 08/14/2007 |