ABSTRACT
The material formation in luminous chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) occurs mainly in the luminous gas phase (glow). However, the profile of deposition extends beyond the glow region depending on the chemical reactivity of species and operational conditions, although the deposition rate declines by orders of magnitude. In LCVT (treatment of surface by luminous gas without depositing material) such as O2 glow discharge treatment of a polymer surface, on the other hand, the effect of chemical change of the surface (surface modification) extends far beyond the glow region depending on the lifetime of excited species and could penetrate porous substrate to a significant extent. In other words, the effect of LCVT is not limited to the top surface exposed to the luminous gas phase. The effect of LCVT could be attributed to the following major mechanisms: (1) photoirradiation and (2) chemical reactions of reactive or excited species.
