Reactive plasma cleaning

G.J. Kominiak, D.M. Mattox, Reactive plasma cleaning of metals. Thin Solid Films, 40 (1977) 141. 

Chemical sputtering (cleaning, etching) The bombardment of a surface with a chemical species (e.g. Cl, F) that forms a volatile compound with the surface material. See also Reactive plasma cleaning Reactive plasma etching (RPE) Physical sputtering. 

In situ cleaning (PVD technology) Cleaning in the deposition system. Examples Ion scrubbing reactive plasma cleaning sputter cleaning. 

Reactive plasma cleaning (cleaning) The reaction of contaminants with reactive species to form volatile compounds. 

The most common in situ cleaning procedure used in PVD processing is plasma cleaning with a reactive gas such as oxygen or hydrogen to produce volatile reaction products, e.g. hydrocarbons to CO, CO2, or CH4 (Sec. 13.11). 

In some cases, the apparent adhesion of a film to a surface increases with time after deposition.This may be due to the diffusion of a reactive species such as oxygen to the interface or by stress relief of the film with time.f For instance, plasma cleaning of glass surfaces prior to silver deposition has been shown to give a time-dependent improvement in the adhesion of the silver films after deposition, This effect is usually noted when the adhesion is not very good in the first place. 

The reactive etching/cleaning processes produce volatile species, which may be deposited in other parts of the system where there are different plasma conditions. This may have a detrimental effect on the gas handling/pumping system and can be a source of particulates in... 

Auxiliary plasma (plasma technology) A plasma established in a processing system to assist in some aspect of the processing separate from the main processing event. Examples Plasma cleaning in a vacuum deposition system plasma activation of the reactive gas near the substrate in a reactive magnetron sputter deposition system. 

Cleaning, plasma (cleaning) Cleaning done using an inert or reactive gas plasma either as an external cleaning process in a plasma cleaner or as an in situ cleaning process in the deposition system. See also Glow bar. 

Plasma cleaning (cleaning) Cleaning using a plasma environment. The cleaning action can be from desorption (inert gas plasma) or chemical reaction and volatilization (reactive gas plasma). 

Reactive plasma etching (RPE) (cleaning) The chemical etching of a surface in contact with a plasma of the reactive gas. See also Reactive ion etching (RIE). 

A useful side effect of the radiation and especially the plasma treatments is the cleaning of the fibre surface. Fibre lubricants, sizing agents, soil and other residuals are burned off This provides, combined with the creation of reactive radicals on the fibre surface, better wetting properties and a higher adhesion of coatings and laminations. Anti-felting finishes for wool are also achievable with plasma treatments. 

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