Plasmas make progress

The electronics revolution of the past 30 years could not have taken place without plasma processing. Today millions of bits of information can be stored on a sliver of silicon no greater than a square centimetre. If alternative methods were used to pattern and deposit thin films, such chips and the products they comprise – from televisions and microwave ovens to the guidance systems of smart weaponry – would be prohibitively expensive. Plasma processing – the etching, deposition and cleaning of thin films – is essential for the economical fabrication of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) electronic circuits. In 1990 the plasma processing industry had worldwide revenues of approximately $1 billion, and the microelectronics and electronics industries that it enabled had revenues of $50 billion and $750 billion respectively. With this enormous economic lever-age, the importance of understanding plasma processing, and fully exploiting its potential, cannot be over-emphasised.