Patent ID: 9527107
Filing Date: 2016-12-27
CPC Classification: B05C,B05D,C23C,F16C

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a housing; an air-bearing surface of the housing configured to couple the housing to a surface of a work piece to form a chamber; a gas inlet of the air-bearing surface configured to supply a pressurizing gas between the air-bearing surface and the surface of the work piece, wherein the pressurizing gas flows along the air-bearing surface into the chamber; a manifold disposed in the chamber configured to receive a working gas and direct the working gas onto the work piece and having a nozzle directed at the work piece; a source of particles within the manifold configured to introduce a particle into the working gas, wherein the working gas entrains the particle from the source and conveys the particle through the nozzle to impinge onto the work piece in order to deposit the particle at the surface of the work piece; and a pump for evacuating the chamber to produce a partial vacuum in the chamber, wherein the pump controls a negative pressure in the chamber to control a differential pressure between a pressure zone at the air-bearing surface and a pressure zone in the chamber to maintain a separation distance between the surface of the workpiece and the air-bearing surface of the housing.