Surface Energy Enhancement, Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (PCVD), and Plasma Etching with the One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP~reg;)

摘要

The majority of industrial plasma processing applications are conducted with glow discharges at pressures below 10 torr. This limits such applications, as a result of the high capital cost of vacuum systems and the production constraints of batch processing. It has long been recognized that glow discharges would play a much larger industrial role if they could be generated at one atmosphere and in ambient air. The One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP~®) has these capabilities. Active species generated by the OAUGDP~® have been used to etch and to increase the surface energy of metallic surfaces, polymeric films, and nonwoven fabrics. The active species also have a potential for plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) on the surfaces of fabrics, films, and solids. This technology requires no vacuum system or batch processing, and it generates minimal pollutants or unwanted by-products. Recent improvements in OAUGDP~® technology will be described that have made it possible to raise the surface energy of polymeric webs (PP, PET, etc.) to levels of 60 to 70 dynes/cm with a few seconds or less of exposure. We will report the exposure of polymeric films and nonwoven fabrics to an OAUGDP~®; exploratory development that will lead to SiOx coatings produced by PCVD on fabrics and films; and the etching of photoresist and polymeric surfaces with the OAUGDP~®.