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Neutralization by a corona discharge ionizer in nitrogen atmosphere
Author(s) -
Ikeuchi Toru,
Takahashi Kazunori,
Ohkubo Takahiro,
Fujiwara Tamiya
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
electrical engineering in japan
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.136
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1520-6416
pISSN - 0424-7760
DOI - 10.1002/eej.21179
Subject(s) - wafer , corona discharge , corona (planetary geology) , nitrogen , neutralization , electrode , materials science , ion , silicon , atmosphere (unit) , charged particle , atomic physics , electron , electrostatic discharge , analytical chemistry (journal) , voltage , optoelectronics , chemistry , electrical engineering , physics , meteorology , environmental chemistry , nuclear physics , engineering , organic chemistry , astrobiology , venus , antibody , biology , immunology
Electrostatic neutralization of multilayer‐loading silicon wafers is demonstrated using a corona discharge ionizer in a nitrogen atmosphere, where AC and DC voltages are applied to two needle electrodes for generation of negative‐ and positive‐charged particles, respectively. We observe that the surface potential of the silicon wafer decreases from ±1 kV to ±20 V within 3 seconds. The density profiles of the charged particles generated by the electrodes are experimentally and theoretically investigated in nitrogen and air atmospheres. Our results show the possibility that the negative‐charged particles contributing to the electrostatic neutralization are electrons and negative ions in nitrogen and air atmospheres, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 177(3): 1–8, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21179