ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses widely used conventional cleaning techniques and theoretically and experimentally investigates the mechanism of surface cleaning with directed fluxes of low-temperature plasma generated by a high-voltage gas discharge outside the electrode gap. Chemical cleaning consists of removing various types of contaminants from substrate surfaces through various methods: immersion in a washing solution or the saturated vapor of a liquid; boiling; ultrasonic treatment with complexones and surface-active agents; hydromechanical treatment; and so on. Laser cleaning relates to "dry" treatment methods and consists of removing various types of contaminants from the surface by heating surface contaminants to a temperature sufficient for thermal desorption. The most common techniques for low-temperature plasma cleaning involve using highly pure gases and gas mixtures. A major problem hindering the development of diffractive optics and micro and nanoelectronics is how to fabricate surfaces with the desired degree of cleanliness.
