Editing Plasma afterglow (section)

=== Cleaning and sterilization ===
Plasma afterglow has shown to be an effective means of cleaning and sterilizing difficult to take apart machinery and glassware.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2012-06-01|title=Treatment surfaces with atomic oxygen excited in dielectric barrier discharge plasma of O2 admixed to N2|journal=AIP Advances|volume=2|issue=2|pages=022157|doi=10.1063/1.4732120|bibcode=2012AIPA....2b2157S|last1=Shun'Ko|first1=E. V|last2=Belkin|first2=V. S|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Moisan|first1=M|last2=Barbeau|first2=J|last3=Moreau|first3=S|last4=Pelletier|first4=J|last5=Tabrizian|first5=M|last6=Yahia|first6=L'H|date=2001-09-11|title=Low-temperature sterilization using gas plasmas: a review of the experiments and an analysis of the inactivation mechanisms|journal=International Journal of Pharmaceutics|volume=226|issue=1–2|pages=1–21|doi=10.1016/S0378-5173(01)00752-9|pmid=11532565}}</ref> [[Plasma cleaning]] uses remote plasma sources to generate an afterglow that is ventilated into the system to be cleaned and then  the afterglow ions react with the contaminants. When oxygen is used as the carrier gas, ionized oxygen species react with heavier organic compounds to form H<sub>2</sub>O, CO<sub>2</sub>, and CO. These products are then easily vented from the system effectively removing organic contaminants from the system.<ref>A. Pizzi; K. L. Mittal (2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=XYbHqiapRjsC ''Handbook of Adhesive Technology, Revised and Expanded''] (2, illustrated, revised ed.). CRC Press. p. 1036. {{ISBN|978-0824709860}}.</ref> This provides the advantage of not having to take systems apart and thus saves time on disassembly and on vacuum systems it saves time changing the pressure of the system.

This plasma cleaning method is especially effective for [[chemical vapor deposition]] methods where cleanliness is a key part of productivity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237127127|title=Advances in Remote Plasma Sources For Cleaning 300 mm and Flat Panel CVD Systems|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2017-04-21}}</ref>