Recent News

Part 1: A Brief Introduction to Transient Plasma

October 17, 2019

Part 2: Why Transient Plasma Is a More Versatile Industrial Solution

October 17, 2019

Part 3: Key Applications and Competitive Advantages of Transient Plasma

October 17, 2019

Transient Plasma Systems Secures $8.5 Million Series A Financing Round Led by Kairos Ventures

February 5, 2019

Advantage
and Value

 
TPS on Vimeo
Higher Performance in Open Environment Surface Treatments
TPS uses nanosecond pulsed power to unlock previously inaccessible capabilities of plasma. The result is exceptional increases in benefits including improved performance and reduced processing costs in open environment (atmospheric pressure) applications.
TPS Transient Plasma technology offers significant advantages over conventional plasma systems using AC/DC/RF or other excitation sources.

Shorter pulses produce heightened electron energy resulting in dramatic increases in chemical activation.

More of the pulse energy is invested in creating energetic electrons instead of heating the bulk surrounding gas.

TPS on Vimeo
TPS uses nanosecond pulsed power to unlock previously inaccessible capabilities of plasma. The result is exceptional increases in benefits including improved performance and reduced processing costs in open environment (atmospheric pressure) applications.
TPS transient plasma technology offers significant advantages above traditional RF plasma processing. Shorter pulses produce heightened electron energy resulting in dramatic increases in chemical activation. More of the pulse energy is invested in creating energetic electrons instead of heating the bulk surrounding gas.

Key Features of TPS Surface Treatment:

Low Temperature Plasma < 25°C

Low Sensitivity to Working Distance

Precise Control of Plasma Energy

Strong Oxidation of Surfaces
(even when using inert gases like Argon)

Highly Effective Plasma Results in Low Usage of Energy and Consumables
(such as monomers used in polymer coatings)

Stable Operation
(no arcing under a wide range of applied voltages, repetition rates, gas flow rates, and plasma head geometries)

Key Features of TPS Plasma Processing:

Low Temperature Plasma < 25°C

Low Sensitivity to Working Distance

Precise Control of Plasma Energy

Strong Oxidation of Surfaces
(even when using inert gases like Argon)

Highly Effective Plasma Results in Low Usage of Energy and Consumables
(such as monomers used in polymer coatings)

Stable Operation
(no arcing under a wide range of applied voltages, repetition rates, gas flow rates, and plasma head geometries)

 
Benefits of Transient Plasma Surface Treatment System:

Ideal for treating sensitive substrates like textiles as well as medical applications like wound sterilization

Low sensitivity to working distance makes it suitable for coating uneven surfaces including printed circuit board assemblies

Precise control of plasma energy enables soft fragmentation of complex molecules like HMDSO, APTMS, AGE etc. resulting in high integrity functional thin film coatings for applications such as:

Medical devices like drug-eluting stents, interventional catheters

Thin functional coatings for diagnostic tools like lab-on-chip

Adhesion promoting film replacing wet chemical primer in industrial adhesive bonding applications

Surface Treatment Solutions

 
Image

TPS Solid State HV Nanosecond Pulse Generator

Adjustable amplitude from 0-7 kV into 50 Ω

Adjustable amplitude from 0-10 kV into 100 pF

Pulse duration at FWHM (Fixed) into 50 Ω: 14 ns

Repetition rate into matched load (50 Ω): adjustable up to 5 kHz

Repetition rate into high-Z load (500 Ω // 100 pF): adjustable up to 500 Hz

Capable of bursts of pulses at significantly higher repetition rates

Maximum average input power: 125 W

Image

TPS Plasma Head

Versatile plasma head enables user to tailor the working distance, plasma intensity, and treatment area and speed through easy adjustments

Provides excellent treatment uniformity across the width of the sheet beam

Available plasma head geometries include pencil beams (diameter as small as 0.5 mm) or sheet beams (widths as large as 10 cm)

Safely treats both insulating and conductive surfaces

Optional injector for thin film coating applications (available upon request)

TPS Plasma Processing for Surface Treatments Functionalize Surfaces in open environments with higher performance, lower cost, and higher throughput.

TPS Surface Treatment Uses Include:

Surface Cleaning
Surface Activation
Surface Coating
Surface Cleaning
with Transient Plasma Systems Enables:

Increase in surface energy

Surface functionalization for adhesion

No foreign residues impurities from electrodes/plasma system

Direct comparison of the C1s spectra before and after surface processing by Transient Plasma on aluminum 6061 – the functionalized species are indicated by the higher peaks at the shoulder left to main peak

C1s BEFORE

Image

C1s AFTER

Image
Surface Activation
with Transient Plasma Systems Enables:

Effective functionalization of even temperature sensitive substrates like EPDM and difficult to activate substrates like silicone

No changes to surface topology leading to better adhesion

No particle deposition

SEM pictures taken from an EPDM surface before and after treatment by Transient Plasma show no significant change on the surface topography.

EPDM Surface BEFORE

Image

EPDM Surface AFTER

Image

Bonding result force/way plots for both versions of EPDM (non-activated and activated by plasma) with the difference in elongation.

For activated EPDM, bond strength is not limited by adhesion, but by material strength of EPDM (rupture on elongation).

WITHOUT (TPS) Transient Plasma Treatment

Image

Bonds Break at
<100N of Force

WITH (TPS) Transient Plasma Treatment

Image

Bonds Hold at
>200N of Force

Surface Coating
with Transient Plasma Systems Enables:

Precise tuning of plasma energy via:

Pulse repetition rate, and

Peak pulse voltage

Enabling polymerization of the precursor on the surface substrate but without destroying the amino groups of the precursor during fragmentation in the plasma

Dense/defect-free coating with good adhesion

Achieve complex (multiple) functionalization for applications like biomedical devices

Transient plasma energy can be controlled precisely to get the exact surface properties needed for your application

Image

Fluorescence microscopy image of the surface of a silicon wafer using laser illumination.

WITHOUT Coating

Image

Successfully Coated with a Complex Biomarker

Image

The TPS
Difference

 
TPS on Vimeo
Transient plasma is low-temperature plasma produced by nanosecond (ultra-short duration) electrical pulses. The system enables superior cleaning and activating of surfaces to improve bonding and adhesion of coatings in atmospheric and low-pressure applications.
Nanosecond pulse power is very different from conventional RF power. By delivering an ultra-fast rising voltage pulse, nanosecond pulse power maximizes electron energy resulting in a higher degree of ionization and richer plasma output.
TPS on Vimeo
Transient plasma is low-temperature plasma produced by nanosecond (ultra-short duration) electrical pulses. The system enables superior cleaning and activating of surfaces to improve bonding and adhesion of coatings in atmospheric and low-pressure applications.
Nanosecond pulse power is very different from conventional RF power. By delivering an ultra-fast rising voltage pulse, nanosecond pulse power maximizes electron energy resulting in a higher degree of ionization and richer plasma output.

250x
More Efficient Than Other Plasma-Production Methods

ImageImage
ImageImage
Image

Learn About Our Other Applications

TPS Ignition Solution
TPS Emissions Solution

Learn About Our Other Applications

TPS Ignition Solution
TPS Emissions Solution