GeneralApplications

UVOzonecleaningisaversatiletechnique,itcanbeappliedtoawidearrayofmaterialstoprovidesurfacecleaningandtreatment.ItcanalsobeusedforavarietyofotherapplicationswhichrequireeitherthepresenceofozoneorUVlight.BelowisalistofcommonmaterialsthatcanbetreatedusingUVozonecleaning:

Quartz/Glass

Silicon/SiliconOxides

Metals(e.gGold,Silver,Steel)

TransparentConductors(ITO,FTO,IZO,AZO)

MetalOxides(e.gAluminiumOxide,TitaniumOxide)

III-VSemiconductors(e.gGalliumArsenide,SiliconNitride)

AFM/STMProbes

OpticalComponents

IfyouwouldliketoknowifyourmaterialissuitableforusewithUVOzonecleaningpleasefeelfreetocontactusatinfo@ossila.com.

UVOzonecleaningisaversatiletechniquenotonlycanitbeusedacrossawidearrayofmaterialsbutitcanalsobeusedtoperformavarietyofdifferenttasks.BelowisalistofsomeofthecommonapplicationsofUVOzonetreatment:

Surfacecleaning

UVcuring

Surfacesterilization

UVchemicalreactions

SurfaceTreatment

Removalofsurfacemonolayers

Oxidationofsurfaces

Micropatterning

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ApplicationNotes

 

RemovalofSurfaceMonolayersandImprovingSurfaceHydrophilicity

 

InthisapplicationweusedtheUVozonecleanertoremoveasurfacelayerofn-octadecyltrichlorosilane(OTS)toimprovethewettingofwater-basedsolutionsonasiliconsubstrate.OTSisanorganicmoleculewhichisusedinthefabricationoforganicfieldeffecttransistorstoimprovetheelectricalpropertiesofdepositedfilms.OTSconsistsofatrichlorosilanegroupwhichreactswiththenativeoxideofsilicontoformthreesiloxanebondswiththesurface.ThesebondsrepeatacrossthesurfaceofthesiliconsubstrateuntiltheentiresurfaceiscoveredinamonolayerofOTS.Thelonghydrocarbonchainswhicharepresentresultinthesubstratehavingaverylowsurfaceenergy.

Wettingofhighsurfaceenergysolvents,suchaswater,becomeimpossIBLeandthecontactangleofdepositeddropletsarethereforehigh.TheOTStreatedsubstratewasexposedtoUVozoneforapproximately10minutestocleanthesurfaceoftheoctadecanecarbonchains.BelowisanimageofawaterdropletpresentonthesurfaceofanOTStreatedsiliconsubstrateandanimageofadropletaftertreatment.Thetreatmenthasincreasedthesurfaceenergyenoughtoallowcompletewettingofthewaterdropletonthesubstratessurface.

SurfaceTreatmentofPMMASubstratestoReduceContactAngle

PlasticssubstrateshaveverylowsurfaceenergyduetotheabundanceofC-Hbondsandothersimilarlowenergybonds.Coatingthinfilmsfromsolutionsthathavehighsurfacetensionsolventscanbedifficultduetothepoorwettingthatoccurs.Onemethodtoassessthedegreeofwettingistolookatthecontactangleadropletmakesonthesurfaceoftehsusbtrate.Thelwoerthecontactanglethataparticularsovlentmakesthebetterthewettingit.UVozonecleaningcanbeusedtotreatthesurfacetoimprovethewettingofsolvents.

DuringtheprocessofUVozonetreatmentozonereactswithsurfacebondsbreakingdowntheorganicgroupsandeventuallyreleasingvolatilespecies.DuringtheprocessintermediatestepsoccurinwhichlowenergybondssuchastheC-HbondarereplacedwithhigherenergygroupssuchasC-OH.Thebelowfigureshowshowsurfacetreatmentcanbeusedtoimprovethesurfaceenergyofasubstrateandthatthelengthofexposuretoozonecanvarythedegreeofsurfaceenergychange.

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