Plasma

APPLICATION

The process of plasma surface modification on materials, substrates, copper, and other plastic products can be divided into some distinct mechanism: e.g.: Cleaning, Etching, Activation

CLEANING

A clean surface on a material is deceptively difficult to attain. Conventional cleaning methods can be incapable of removing certain sursface films, leaving a thin contamination layer. With plasma treatment, it is completely removes contaminants films even from the complex surfaces.

The ability of plasma processing to break down weak covalent bonds in a substrate is also known as ablation. This effects the outer most molecular layer the exposed to the plasma, which boils off and is pump down by the vacuum. Because the chemistry of any layers of surface contamination is also generally made up of weak C-H bonds (finger prints, injection molding additives, oil films can be remove by plasma treatment, thereby leaving behind a uniformly clean and active polymer surface.

WHY PLASMA TREATMENT EVEN WITHOUT CONTAMINANTS

  • Plasma grafting (etching and cleaning) - Employs Argon or Helium gas which remove some atomic species from the basic polymer generating reactive and cross-linked surface
  • Surface Activition (surface modification) - Employs a reactive gas Oxygen or Nitrogen which creates different functional groups modifying the hydrophilicity and the biochemical reactivity of the surface.
  • Plasma Deposition (Coating) - Use gas like Methane can be plasma polymerised, coating the device surface with thin layer of a different polymer

PLASMA ADVANTAGES

  • It is environmentally friendly, low energy cost, no waste-disposal
  • Operator friendly, with no controllable to chemicals, toxic gas or radiation.
  • All process parameters are fully controllable and repeatable
  • Cause no substrate damage on the bulk property
  • Chambers can be modified to an extensive range of practical geometries small or larger loads.

Economical and ecological aspects of plasma surface treatment

  • Low cost for raw materials and low running costs
  • Solvent free, dry process
  • Extreme low consumption of chemicals (Argon gas tank CIGI size 4 to 6 months at 3% flow)
  • Chemicals are inert (not chemically reactive)