Products & Services

HPT - Low Pressure Plasma Treatment

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The Henniker Plasma 'HPT' range of low pressure plasma treatment systems are microprocessor controlled benchtop devices that are ideal for routine laboratory, R&D and light industrial tasks. Due to their ease of use and reliability, they are the instrument of choice for many of the world's leading companies and institutes, where they are used clean surfaces and activate materials in order to increase wettability and improve adhesion.

Each device includes an integrated pressure gauge and precision gas flow controller as well as a suitable vacuum pump, everything needed for operation. Simple recipes are stored via the intuitive touch screen control and are executed with a single button press and, because we do not use analogue timers or unreliable needle valves, process repeatability is guaranteed each and every time.

Henniker Plasma's HPT plasma systems are perfect for surface cleaning, surface preparation and surface modification of a wide range of materials including metals, glass, polymers, ceramics, plastics and composites. Key applications include composites joining development, microfluidics PDMS bonding, microscope sample cleaning, optics cleaning, metals cleaning, biomedical applications, polymer science and medical device manufacture.

HPT low pressure Plasma systems:

    • HPT-100: 100mm diameter cylindrical chamber (2 litre volume)
    • HPT-200: 150mm diameter cylindrical chamber (5 litre volume)
    • HPT-300: 200mm x 200mm rectangular chamber (12.5 litre volume), multiple parts trays
    •  HPT-500: 240mm x 240mm rectangular chamber (23 litre volume), multiple parts trays

plasma products plasma treatment range

Nebula - Low Pressure Plasma Treatment

plasma products nebula software portals

The Henniker Plasma 'NEBULA' range of low pressure plasma treatment systems are standalone systems with large capacity chambers for treating larger format parts, or more parts in a single batch. They are suited to both regular industrial usage and also for development of new processes and surface chemistry. NEBULA plasma treatment systems have a large HMI interface and are controlled via an industrial PLC system. They allow user level access ranging from simple operator, able to execute programs only, to full administrator, able to create users, edit and test new recipes. Due to their flexibility and robustness, they are chosen where reliability and flexibility are paramount.

Each NEBULA system can be configured with a variety of options including horizontal and vertical sample loading and also a rotary drum for treating many small parts or even powders. The user can specify up to three gas inlets as well as a precise monomer dosing inlet for plasma polymerisation work. In this way, simple cleaning and activation tasks can be extended to produce permanent polymeric coatings on many surfaces.

Henniker Plasma's NEBULA range of low pressure plasma treatment systems are perfect for cleaning, activation, and deposition onto a wide range of materials. Key applications include surface preparation to improve bond adhesion and plasma polymerisation to produce hydrophilic or hydrophobic coatings.

  • NEBULA low pressure Plasma systems:

    • NEBULA-30: 30 litre plasma processing chamber (300x300mm x 375mm D)
    • NEBULA-50: 50 litre plasma processing chamber (300x300mm x 600mm D)
    • NEBULA-100: 100 litre plasma processing chamber (400x400mm x 600mm D)
    • NEBULA-150: 150 litre plasma processing chamber (400x600mm x 600mm D)

Atmospheric Plasma Treatment

plasma products atmospheric plasma cirrusThe Cirrus atmospheric plasma device localised improvement of the adhesion characteristics of a wide range of materials.

It is a compact standalone instrument which delivers a continuous plume (8-10mm wide) of low temperature plasma to the surface and can easily be integrated with assembly/production lines with or without robot handling. The Cirrus operates with compressed air and doesn’t require any special gases or other services. A rear panel sub-D connector allows start/stop triggering of the plasma via an external signal supplied by the line.

The Nimbus atmospheric plasma device is the dual nozzle version of the Cirrus atmospheric plasma device. Plasma zones can be applied to different areas or overlapped to cover wider areas.

Atmospheric plasma cleaning & activation of:

  • Polymers
  • Metal
  • Ceramics
  • Glass
  • Composites

Atmospheric plasma advantages:

  • Fast localised atmospheric plasma pre-treatment of parts prior to bonding
  • Ultrafine atmospheric plasma cleaning
  • Surface activation with atmospheric plasma
  • Highest quality treatments
  • Very low operation cost & easy integration with automated lines
  • atmospheric Plasma treatment:


Microscopy Plasma Cleaners

henniker plasma treatment tem sample plasma cleanerHenniker's plasma cleaners for microscopy applications are low-cost benchtop systems designed specifically for fast and efficient cleaning of TEM sample holders as well as SEM stubs.
The TEM plasma cleaner is fully automated and comes with standard adapters which are suitable for the sample holders supplied from all the major microscope manufacturers.

The plasma output power is fully variable over the range 0-100W, resulting in a very controllable & gentle cleaning process.

Tem Plasma Cleaner / Plasma Asher options:

The TEM plasma cleaner is an application specific solution for low-pressure plasma cleaning and preparation of electron microscopy samples, including:

  • Low power operation
  • Front feed of TEM sample holder
  • Multiple TEM grids and SEM stub cleaning
  • Re-entrant style sample holder introduction
  • Dual gas inlets for O2/Ar and other gases
  • Microscopy Plasma cleaners:


Surface Testing Equipment

Easy test dyne pens

dyne pen henniker plasma treatment

Easy test Dyne pens allow rapid assessment of surface energy. Surface energy is the property of a surface arising from unbalanced molecular forces at or near the surface, compared to those in the bulk material, and provides a quick indication of adhesion characteristics and wettability.

If a liquid is applied to the surface and its surface energy is higher than the surface energy of a material to which it is applied then the liquid tends to form droplets. If the surface energy of the liquid is lower than that of the surface to which it is applied it will spread out or “wet” the surface evenly. This is the basis of the Dyne test.

Dyne PENS:

The pens are filled with Dyne test fluids of various values, from 28mN/m to 105mN/m surface tension. The pen is drawn across a plasma treated surface and if the liquid draws together or forms beads on the surface then the surface energy is less than the Dyne level of the pen, indicating that the plasma treatment has not been performed.

Easy Test Dyne Pens are available off the shelf for next day delivery.


Portable Contact Angle Meter

plasma products contact angle measurement

The PGx is a fully automated Portable Contact Angle Meter that measures surface wetting and absorption in-situ on virtually any size or shape of surface.

With a footprint of only 90mm x 55mm and weighing just 400g, it is the smallest contact angle meter available, with features previously found only in larger laboratory instruments. The PGx enables direct surface testing of almost any 3D object without having to cut the sample to fit. Simply place the PGx Portable Contact Angle Meter on your sample or part and press a single button. The PGx automatically delivers a precisely calibrated drop onto the surface and the built-in camera captures a video sequence of the surface wetting at a rate of 80 frames per second. The results are displayed as a static contact angle or dynamic wetting as a function of time, providing detailed information about the liquid/substrate interaction in a truly portable instrument.

PGX portable Contact Angle meter:

The PGx Portable Contact Angle Measurement Meter is trusted in a wide range of industries and especially suited to the evaluation of samples both before and after plasma treatment, being fully compliant with official test methods ASTM D-724 and ASTM D-5946.

  • 0.2uL to 10uL droplet size
  • Touch down, impact and manual drop application modes
  • Built in, automatic calibration
  • Automatic sampling in both Static and Dynamic modes
  • adhesion (gluing, bonding)
  • absorption
  • surface contamination (cleaning)
  • wettability (printing, painting, coating)

Services

Proof of concept trials

henniker plasma services plasma process development

We understand that plasma technology may not be familiar to you, that’s ok, it’s what we’re here to help with.
We will be happy to discuss your expectations, both technical and commercial, and then undertake some initial proof of concept plasma treatment trials, totally free of charge, to help you determine if one of our range of plasma treatments could be useful.

We have the extensive technical knowledge, applications knowledge and of course a wide range of plasma treatment and surface test facilities at our disposal.
If plasma treatment isn’t suitable (and sometimes it isn’t!), we can help you to determine that as well, and often, we can suggest alternatives or point you in the right direction.

Rental options

We carry a wide range of rental plasma treatment systems in stock at any one time, both standard and customised, and available at great rates for immediate dispatch.

If an immediate purchase of a system is not the most efficient method for you and should you decide, after trying the equipment and processes, that plasma treatment is right for your product, we even offset part of the rental payment against the eventual outright purchase.
You can play it safe with us, rent a plasma treatment unit first, then decide. We firmly believe that there isn’t a process or problem that can’t be solved by working together.

Plasma process development

During plasma processes development, we work hand in hand with our clients to customise a plasma treatment solution that best meets their needs. We undertake in-house or on-site process development for a wide range of new applications, drawing on extensive real-world experience.

In the first instance, we are happy to receive your samples after initial discussion and in order to determine an optimum treatment. These preliminary tests are always free of charge. After the initial process development, a treatment plan can be detailed. At this stage, we are generally ready to move forward to quote a specific system/treatment(s) exactly matched to your product, a service which ultimately reduces your risk.

Plasma Processes:

  • Access to our extensive process library
  • Comprehensive surface testing methods
  • Adhesion and coatings processes

Contract plasma treatment

We offer a fast and cost-effective contract plasma treatment service for both small one-off requests and ongoing production.
Contract treatment is a cost-effective way of tapping into the unique benefits of plasma treatment where the cost of capital equipment isn’t justifiable, for example where one-off or short-term contracts have been awarded.

Our plasma treatment and testing facility is equipped with a comprehensive range of plasma treatment equipment for both cleaning, surface activation, coating and etching.
Both vacuum and in-line atmospheric plasma treatments can be utilised for contract treatment with fast turnaround times to suit.

Some of our clients

  • Acti Med AG
  • Heraeus
  • FALCON Industrial Service GmbH
  • FZ Rossendorf
  • Forschungszentrum Jlich
  • Freiburg
  • Georg August Universitat Gottingen
  • Johannes Gutenberg University
  • KIT Karlsruhe
  • Paul Drude Institut Fr Festkrperelektronik
  • RWTH Aachen University
  • TU Dortmund
  • Contract Medical International Gmbh
  • Technische Universitat Berlin
  • Universitat Bayreuth
  • Universitat Osnabruck
  • Freie Universitat Berlin

Contact Us

AMT
Talstraße 33, 67737 Frankelbach, Germany
+49 (0)6308 2099788
info@henniker-plasma.de


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