Plasma cleaning involves the removal of impurities and contaminants from surfaces through the use of an energetic plasma created from gaseous species.  Gases such as argon and oxygen are used.  Lower energy plasmas are used for plasma cleaning versus plasma etching operations. The energetic, ionic species react with species on the surface of the item to be cleaned, often producing gaseous products which are removed by a vacuum system. The energetic species also clean the surface by collision with the surface, knocking off species from the surface.  At Specialized Coating Services, we use argon and oxygen to clean and activate the surfaces of the printed circuit boards to allow for better adhesion of the conformal coating.  Once the plasma process is complete, conformal coating is applied within two hours of the plasma process.

View from inside the Plasma Chamber Plasma Treatment System Diagram