Patent ID: 8034418

Claim:
A thin film formation method, comprising: forming a plurality of antenna elements, each of the antenna elements including a first linear conductor having a first end and a second end and a second linear conductor having a first end and a second end, the first end of the first linear conductor and the first end of the second linear conductor of each of said antenna elements being electrically connected to each other; arranging a number of said antenna elements in a chamber so that the first and the second linear conductors are placed alternately in a plane in equal intervals, forming one or more array antennas; connecting the second ends of each of the first linear conductors to a high-frequency power source; grounding the second ends of each of the second linear conductors; installing a plurality of substrates on both sides of and in parallel to said array antennas so as to have respective distances between the array antennas and the substrates substantially equal to the intervals; and forming thin films on said substrates by generating plasma around the antenna elements, wherein the thin films, as deposited, have at least a microcrystalline structure, and wherein the method is carried out at a pressure of approximately 60 Pa or less and the distances between the array antennas and the substrates is approximately 35 mm.