Surface Activation Techniques

Surface activation is a part of surface chemistry. Some time surface chemistry is used to activate the surface of some thing in order to achieve good adhession and bonding property.
To achieve this several techniques are followed. These are:
1. Mechanical Etching: To get a rough surface as wel as higher energy stored at the surface in terms of electrostatic energy.
2. Chemical Etching: Some times suitable chemicals are used to activate and rough the upper surface.
3. Plasma Etching: Plasma etching is a form of plasma processing in which a high-speed stream of plasma is shot (in pulses) at a sample. The atoms of the shot element embed themselves at or just below the surface of the target. The physical properties of the target are modified in the process. Plasma systems ionize a variety of source gases in a vacuum system by using RF excitations. The frequency of operation of the RF power source is frequently of 13.56 MHz, chosen by the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) for industrial and scientific use. Nevertheless, it can be used lower frequencies (kilohertz) or higher (microwave). The mode of operation of the plasma system change if the operating pressure change. Also, it is different for different structures of the reaction chamber. Standard plasma etching work with very high pressures. In the simple case, the electrode structure is symmetrical, and the sample is placed upon the grounded electrode. Free radicals such as fluorine or chlorine are created in the plasma and react at the sample surface.Plasma processing is a plasma-based material processing technology that aims at modifying the chemical and physical properties of a surface.
Plasma processing techniques include:
• Plasma activation
• Plasma modification
• Plasma functionalization
• Plasma polymerization
• Plasma Surface Interactions