Outside chamber sealing roller system for surface treatment gas reactors

摘要

A surface treatment gas reactor features a roller assembly for transporting a bi-dimensional material into and out of a gas reaction chamber. Either a four-roller or a three-roller assembly may be employed. The roller assembly is configured such that the surface area of the rollers in the roller assembly which are exposed to the interior of the reaction chamber is minimized. Thus, most of the rollers in the roller assembly are located outside of the reaction chamber. Active volume of the reaction chamber is reduced to a minimum by a large freely rotating roller and a specially shaped support piece mounted in the reaction chamber to occupy most of the dead volume in the reaction chamber. A bi-dimensional substrate to be treated is transported by the roller system and the freely rotating roller through a plasma generated in the reaction chamber by electrodes mounted in a removable electrode holder within the chamber. Axial ends of the rollers in the roller system are sealed with minimum surface contact. A gas channeling mechanism is employed to avoid displacement of the bi-dimensional substrate being treated during evacuation of the reaction chamber.