ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the plasma treatment of surfaces in which plasma active species interact only very superficially with the material, i.e. with the adsorbed surface monolayers or with the first few monolayers of the surface material itself. Plasma surface treatment is the use of active species produced by a plasma to modify the surface characteristics of solid materials. Plasma surface treatment may add or remove adsorbed monolayers; it may involve chemical reactions with the surface; it may add or remove surface charge; and it may change the physical or chemical state of the superficial monolayers of a material. Plasma surface treatment can be effected by either active or passive plasma exposure. Treatment by active exposure occurs when a workpiece serves as an electrode to draw real currents of ions or electrons from a plasma. Many commercial applications of plasma surface treatment are intended to increase the surface energy of materials.
