Nordson MARCH Announce New Plasma Deposition System
Uniform film coating changes surface characteristics of the substrate
Nordson MARCH, supplier of plasma cleaning and surface treatment technology, has introduced its PD Series Plasma Deposition Systems family, which uses plasma polymerization to deposit thin films uniformly during precision manufacturing and assembly processes to change the surface characteristics of a substrate. Plasma deposition can be used for applications in a wide range of industries, including medical, life sciences, industrial, semiconductor, MEMS, plastics, and electronics.
The PD Series for plasma deposition uses a gas vapour or heated liquid monomer vapour delivery system to deposit coatings that can reduce, and in certain cases eliminate, tackiness, provide a tie layer, make surfaces more slippery or resistant to corrosion, act as a drug enhancement or inhibition agent in life sciences applications, and change desired surfaces from hydrophobic to hydrophilic or vice versa. Polymers can be directly attached to a desired surface while the chains are growing, which reduces the steps necessary for other coating processes such as grafting. This is very useful for pinhole-free coatings of 100 picometers to 1 micrometer thickness with solvent insoluble polymers.
The benefits of using plasma deposition include:
"¢ Low temperature processing because plasma energy is the catalyst for film growth.
"¢ Plasma deposition is uniform and applies coatings evenly over curved or varied-level surfaces.
"¢ Precise control of film thickness.
"¢ Eliminates wet chemistry. Because polymers are deposited directly from the monomer, there are no waste streams due to wet chemical synthesis or solvents.
"¢ Exhibits similar properties to those created via standard chemical polymerization techniques.
"¢ Can be used in multiple steps during device manufacture: pre-treat the surface, deposit material, and apply functionalized polymer films.
Three models are available to meet a broad spectrum of manufacturing requirements. The PD-1000 and PD-1500 are ideal for batch prototype, pilot, or production processing of substrates. The PD-Pro has a large plasma processing cavity to treat big substrates or multiple smaller substrates.
