Meaglow’s hollow cathode plasma technology has been granted patent by the European office. This follows from existing patents in the US and elsewhere. However, these gas plasma sources have already transformed the atomic layer deposition (ALD) research community, providing a solution to the oxygen contamination problems seen when depositing non-oxide layers with the old legacy plasma technologies (see company white paper linked here).
In recent years ALD has become an important tool in the Semiconductor Industry for the manufacture of chips for computers, cell phones and other mobile devices. Adoption of Meaglow’s hollow cathode plasma source has been relatively rapid by the research community, as many other equipment suppliers were unresponsive to the problem of oxygen contamination. Some now seek or provide second best solutions, however Meaglow is supplying to five original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). There are 60 plus Meaglow hollow cathode plasma sources in the field and over 50 research based journal publications have been made with them. A twelve inch diametre source is also being evaluated by a customer, so the technology may soon find adoption in production facilities.
Says Meaglow’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Scott Butcher: “When we first introduced this technology many of the ALD equipment manufacturers weren’t even aware there was a problem – but their customers were. It’s good to now see the widespread adoption of hollow cathode technology, especially amongst some OEMs.”