Study of Plasma Cleaning of Substrate Surfaces

Name : Shivam
Roll No. : 20313127
Contents
• Plasma cleaning and substrate introduction
• Methods of plasma cleaning
• Procedure
• Application
• References
 Plasma cleaning
• Plasma cleaning is the removal of impurities and contaminants from
surfaces through the use of an energetic plasma or dielectric barrier
discharge (DBD) plasma created from gaseous species.
• Gases such as argon and oxygen, as well as mixtures such as air and
hydrogen/nitrogen are used in plasma cleaning.
• The plasma is created by using high frequency voltages to ionise the
low pressure gas (typically around 1/1000 atm. pressure), although
atmospheric pressure plasmas are now also common.
 Substrate
• A substrate is a solid substance or medium to which another substance is applied
and to which that second substance sticks.
• A substrate, in the context of corrosion, is the parent or base material to which a
coating is applied or the material upon which a process is conducted. A substrate
can be nearly any type of material, including metals, plastics and ceramics.
• One should ensure that:
(1) The substrate surface should be clean and free of oil and dirt.
(2) If there is any type of coating already on the substrate, it should be free of
surface scratches, coating chatter or coating streak. These defects can lead to
improper coating.
(3) The uncoated substrate should be flat to avoid issues such as coating bead
disturbances, curl and tension control problems.
 Methods
• In plasma, gas atoms are excited to higher energy states and also ionized. As the
atoms and molecules 'relax' to their normal, lower energy states they release a
photon of light, this results in the characteristic “glow” or light associated with
plasma. Different gases give different colours. For example, oxygen plasma emits a
light blue colour.
• A plasma’s activated species include atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, free radicals,
metastables and photons in the short wave ultraviolet (vacuum UV, or VUV for
short) range. This mixture then interacts with any surface placed in the plasma.
• If the gas used is oxygen, the plasma is an effective, economical, environmentally
safe method for critical cleaning.
The VUV energy is very effective in the breaking of most organic bonds (i.e., C–H,
C–C, C=C, C–O, and C–N) of surface contaminants. This helps to break apart high
molecular weight contaminants. A second cleaning action is carried out by the
oxygen species created in the plasma (, , O, , , ionised ozone, metastable excited
oxygen and free electrons). These species react with organic contaminants to form
O, CO, C and lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. These compounds have
relatively high vapour pressures and are evacuated from the chamber during
processing. The resulting surface is ultra-clean. In Fig. 2, a relative content of
carbon over material depth is shown before and after cleaning with excited oxygen.
• If the impurity consists of easily oxidized materials such as silver or copper, the
treatment uses inert gases such as argon or helium instead. Plasma activated
atoms and ions behave like a molecular sandblast and can break down organic
contaminants. These contaminants vaporize during processing and are
evacuated from the chamber.
• If a surface to be treated is coated with a patterned conductive layer (metal,
ITO), treatment by direct contact with plasma could be destructive. In this case,
cleaning by neutral atoms excited in plasma to metastable state can be applied.
• Plasma ashing is a process that uses plasma cleaning solely to remove carbon.
Plasma ashing is always done with gas.
 Procedure
• It is performed in evacuated chamber.
• The air is pumped out and a gas is allowed to flow in at low pressure
before energy in the form of electrical power is applied.
• Ultra-violet light generated in plasma is very effective in the breaking of
most of organic bonds of surface contaminants.
• Energetic oxygen species created in plasma react with organic
contaminants and form water and carbon dioxide which pumped away
from the chamber during processing.
• The plasma activated atoms and ions behaves like a molecular
sandblast and can breakdown organic contaminants.
• The contaminants are again vaporized and evacuated from the chamber during
processing.
 Applications
• Plasma cleaning is often required for the removal of contaminants from
surfaces before they can be used in a manufacturing process. Plasma
cleaning can be applied to an array of materials along with surfaces with
complex geometries. Plasma cleaning has the capabilities to effectively
remove all organic contamination from surfaces through the process of a
chemical reaction (air plasma) or physical ablation (Ar plasma/ Argon
plasma).
• Removal of Self Assembled Monolayers of alkanethiolates from gold
surfaces.
• Residual proteins on biomedical devices.
• Nanoelectrode Cleaning.
• Surface wetting and modification is a fundamental tool in materials
science for enhancing material characteristics without affecting bulk
properties. Plasma Cleaning is used to alter material surface
chemistries through the introduction of polar functional groups.
Increased surface hydrophilicity (wetting) following plasma treatment
improves adhesion with aqueous coatings, adhesives, inks and epoxies.
• Micro patterning of thin films.
• Work function enhancement in polymer semiconductor hetero-
structures.
 References
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cleaning
• https://www.plasmaetch.com/plasma-cleaning.php
• https://harrickplasma.com/plasma-cleaning
• https://
www.palomartechnologies.com/blog/bid/206379/An-Introduction-to-P
lasma-Cleaning
• http://www.harricksci.com/plasma.cfm