Patent ID: 8580076

Claim:
An axial flow downstream plasma treatment device for treating a substrate including a low k dielectric material, comprising, in combination: a substantially oxygen and nitrogen free gas source; a gas purifier intermediate to the gas source and the plasma-generating component adapted to reduce oxygen and nitrogen impurity levels to less than 20 parts per million; a plasma generating component in fluid communication with the gas source, the plasma generating component comprising a plasma tube and a plasma generator coupled to the plasma tube for generating a substantially oxygen and nitrogen free plasma within the plasma tube from the gas source; a process chamber in fluid communication with the plasma tube comprising a baffle plate assembly about an inlet of the process chamber, wherein the baffle plate assembly comprises a generally planar upper baffle plate fixedly positioned above a generally planar lower baffle plate, the upper baffle plate being smaller than the lower baffle plate such that the upper baffle plate is free from direct contact with other components defining the plasma processing chamber, the lower baffle plate comprising a plurality of apertures disposed about a central axis, wherein a dimension of each one of the plurality of apertures increases from the central axis to an outer edge of the lower baffle plate, and wherein the baffle plate assembly is positioned generally parallel to the substrate, wherein the substrate contains a low k dielectric material; an exhaust conduit centrally located in a bottom wall of the process chamber; an afterburner assembly coupled to the exhaust conduit and configured for volatilizing byproducts discharged from the process chamber to prevent deposition of photoresist and byproducts within the process chamber and areas downstream, wherein the exhaust conduit comprises a gas port intermediate to the process chamber and the afterburner assembly and wherein the exhaust conduit is axially aligned with the plasma tube; and an optical detection system optically coupled to the exhaust conduit.