Eclat Industries Inc. PVD Coating process...





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Plasma Cleaning
Biological tissues mainly interact with the outermost atomic layers of an implant. Consequently, much effort is being devoted to methods of modifying surfaces of existing biomaterials to achieve the desired biological responses or the biocompatibility of the matters. Low pressure plasma cleaning was and still is an established precision method for high-quality surface preparation and cleaning method in microelectronics, aviation, medical and vacuum deposition industries. Low-pressure plasma cleaning has been used extensive as the most commercially efficient method for removal of thin organic film from surfaces.  While the technology benefits of low-pressure plasmas have been known and extensively investigated since the Roaring Twenties. Much of the principle process parameter and variations has been conceived by researchers over the last three (3) decades. During the twenty first century and the late twentieth century low pressure plasma have been widely used for treatment, etching, and pre-treatment of coating surfaces in many industrial applications. The large varieties of surface modifications which can be obtained by low-pressure plasmas as well as environmental and economical aspects are reasons for the further strongly growing interest in this technique. Today's spectrum of industrial applications ranges from stripping photo resists for wafer fabrication to drilling microvias into flexile PCBs as well as activating large plastic parts for the automotive industries. Plasma cleaning has continued to attract vast research and development interest as the full potential of the technology is been explored.

Cleaning Technology
The cleaning and degreasing of machined parts prior to PVD coating and/or any other surface treatment methods determines the quality and integrity of the final product. In the past, wet chemical cleaning agents, predominantly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and chlorinated hydrocarbon (CHCs), worked successfully, providing surfaces meeting the requirements of cleanliness for subsequent bonding or coating process. However, since the use of CFCs was prohibited according to the Montreal Agreement in 1987 a radical review of the conventional cleaning technologies has become necessary. Originally, low-pressure plasma process was intended to replace a good part of the non-Montreal-conform processes with CFCs and CHCs. This substitution is now proceeding and the majority of the application is being replaced by wet process incorporated with ultrasonic transducer into the cleaning process, such as aqueous cleaning or alkali solution cleaning with ultrasonic transducer built into the submersion tank/container. The combination of ultrasonic-alkali solution cleaning line and plasma cleaning has become standard practice for the PVD coating industry to achieve the best surface finish and most commercially efficient cycle time.