Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet for Glass Processing

Hans Hermann & Gary Selwyn, APJet, Inc.
Phil Henderson & Mario Moniz, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

The Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJ) technology encompasses a proprietary plasma source characterized by a stable, homogeneous discharge. The APPJ process is capable of power densities 50 -1000 times greater than older, competing atmospheric plasmas, such as dielectric barrier and corona discharge as well as the more recent atmospheric pressure glow discharges, while still providing low gas temperature operation.

The glass industry has shown interest in APPJ processes for substrate cleaning, surface treatment and thin film coating applications. The APPJ technology can be used in a downstream, or remote, configuration where reactive chemical species are blown onto the substrate. It can also be used in an in-situ mode where the substrate is passed directly through the discharge. The in-situ mode offers the advantage of greatly reduced consumption of feedgas and power. Work to date has focused on substrate cleaning and surface treatment applications on industrial samples. Initial work has also been done on atmospheric pressure deposition of SiOx and SixNy films. A general overview of this new technology with application examples will be presented.

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The Authors