Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWSCleaning by electrical discharges
Electrical arc discharges are equally suitable for lacalized and large area SURFACE REMOVAL OPERATIONS: They can be used at atmospheric pressure as well as in vaccum.
Cleaning a metal surface by means of electrical discharges under atmospheric pressure conditions
Vacuum arc discharge for the ablation of contamination on metals
Localized cleaning at atmospheric pressure
Surfaces can be locally ablated with a pulsed high voltage discharge under atmospheric pressure.
Large-area cleaning in vacuum
The DC-vacuum arc discharge - known from the coating technology - is an effective tool for large-area removal of surfaces. Metallic surfaces can be cleaned with high processing speed, in vacuum.