the benefits of plasma
Plasma treatment removes nanoscale contamination and alters surface chemistry without affecting the bulk material properties. Plasma treatment occurs at near-ambient temperature, minimizing the risk of damage to heat-sensitive materials. Depending on the process gases and process conditions used, plasma treatment can be used for cleaning, surface activation, and surface chemistry modification. Plasma can be applied to a wide variety of materials as well as complex surface geometries.
Applications
Harrick Plasma Cleaners may be employed in a variety of application fields, including materials science, polymer science, biomedical materials, microfluidics, optics, microscopy, and dental & medical research.
Nanoscale Surface Cleaning
Plasma surface treatment removes nanoscale organic contamination and alters surface chemistry without affecting the bulk material. The plasma cleaning process is often more gentle than harsh chemical and physical cleaning methods.
Alter Surface Chemistry
Tailoring material surfaces with specific chemical functionalities (hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, etc) is often use to optimize material surface properties. Plasma alters surfaces to be more hydrophilic or hydrophobic depending on the desired application.
Device Fabrication
Many devices, such as microfluidic chips, require plasma treatment to facilitate bonding or improve the adhesion of intermediate epoxys, glues or other surface coatings.
Biology & Biomedical
Plasma treatment cleans and activates materials used in various biological and biomedical applications. Plasma treatment has been shown to improve biocompatability and/or reduce biofouling, characteristics essential to research regarding cell culture, protein adsorption, biomaterial coating, and implant surface activation.
Surface Patterning
Plasma can be employed in various ways to facilitate surface patterning, which is often a required processing step for the fabrication of multilayer devices, such as solar cells, sensors, and microfluidic chips.