No abstract available

[en] The inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and the RF capacitive discharges are well known RF discharges that operate in the RF range, at 13, 27 or 40 MHz. The surface wave produced plasma is a possible alternative to these commonly used plasmas that proves to be more advantageous for some applications. Over the past years, the surface wave plasma technology has developed mainly around the surfatron launcher. This device is very efficient (reflected power ≅ 0%), but it remains really compact (axial length < 15 cm) only to the extent that it is used at frequencies exceeding 500 MHz: at 13 MHz, it would typically be 5 meter long. To circumvent this problem, the authors propose the Ro-box launcher, a device that has its launching gap separated from the matching network, in contrast to the surfatron. For frequencies in the range of 200-2450 MHz, the impedance matching is provided by a capacitive coupler (as with the surfatron) and a coaxial tuning stub. In this so-called stub configuration, they show that the Ro-box works as well as a surfatron but it is more compact. For frequencies in the domain 200 KHz-200MHz, distributed L and C impedance components are used. The development work carried out in this low frequency range is reported. It comprises Ro-box power response curves as well as some plasma column properties at reduced pressures and at atmospheric pressures in argon and helium gas

[en] In the commonly used RF capacitive discharge, the biasing voltage appearing on the wafer results from the discharge operating conditions and cannot be set independently, for example, from the plasma density. In electrodeless high frequency (HF) produced plasmas, independent biasing of the wafer is possible. In particular, one can set the biasing voltage at a frequency different from that of the HF field sustaining the plasma. In that respect, it has been shown that biasing the wafer at 13.56 MHz in a 2.45 GHz microwave sustained plasma can lead to a substantial increase in the etch rate. The influence on etch rate when biasing the wafer at frequencies f that are below and above the ion plasma frequency _pi. This experiment is performed in a reactor that was recently developed for the study of the influence of the plasma stimulating frequency (13.56-2450 MHz) upon the etching of polyimide. In such a device, the plasma is sustained by a surface wave. In the present work, the authors are concerned with the etch rate of Ciba-Geigy XU-287 polyimide in an O₂-CF₄ discharge sustained at a fixed frequency of 200 MHz

[en] General Atomics (GA), under contract to the Idaho Operations Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, is developing two new legal weight truck spent fuel shipping casks that will carry four PWR or nine BWR spent fuel assemblies. They are being developed for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) to meet its mission to dispose of nuclear wastes at a permanent disposal site. This paper discusses the primary goal, to maximize the number of fuel elements of each fuel type that a LWT cask can carry, while ensuring that the design meets all NRC licensing requirements