Vacuum on-line plasma equipment is a kind of equipment for material surface treatment by generating plasma in vacuum environment. It is an efficient and environmentally friendly new surface treatment technology, which can be widely used in the fields of metal material cleaning, coating, modification and preparation of nanomaterials. In this paper, the operating principle, main application, advantages and limitations of vacuum on-line plasma equipment are introduced.

First, the vacuum in-line plasma device performs material surface treatment by generating plasma in a vacuum environment. It mainly consists of vacuum system, plasma generator, workpiece fixture, control system and so on. At work, the equipment extracts the gas in the working room to a certain vacuum through the pump, and then generates an electric field through the high-frequency power supply to ionize, excite, compound and other processes of the gas molecules, and finally form a plasma. Charged particles such as electrons, cations and neutral stable molecules in the plasma produce various physical and chemical reactions on the surface of the workpiece through electric fields and collisions to achieve surface treatment of the workpiece.

Vacuum on-line plasma equipment has a wide range of applications. First of all, in terms of cleaning and surface modification of metal materials, the equipment can achieve different treatment effects by controlling the composition and working parameters of the plasma, such as removing oxidation layers, oil and corrosion products, improving surface roughness and adhesion, changing surface energy and so on. Secondly, in terms of coating, the equipment can form a dense coating on the metal surface through physical and chemical reactions to improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the metal. In addition, vacuum on-line plasma equipment can also be used for the preparation of nanomaterials, by controlling the composition and working parameters of the plasma, the surface of the material to form nanostructures, improve the optical, electrical, magnetic properties of the material.

Vacuum on-line plasma equipment has some significant advantages over traditional material surface treatment technology. First of all, because it works in a vacuum environment, the equipment can effectively remove the influence of gas molecules, making the surface treatment more pure and uniform. Secondly, the operation of the equipment is simple, only need to set the working parameters, and through the control system for real-time monitoring. In addition, there is no need to use chemicals in the equipment treatment process, which avoids the pollution of some harmful substances to the environment.

However, vacuum in-line plasma devices also have some limitations. First of all, due to the action of plasma charged particles in the process of equipment processing, it is easy to produce charge accumulation, resulting in electrostatic effect, which requires some measures in equipment design to solve. Secondly, during the use of the equipment, it is necessary to take into account the control of the temperature, pressure, working gas composition and other factors on the surface of the material, so as to avoid excessive heating and deformation of the material.

All in all, vacuum on-line plasma equipment is an efficient and environmentally friendly new surface treatment technology. By generating plasma in vacuum environment, it can be widely used in the fields of metal material cleaning, coating, modification and preparation of nanomaterials. The equipment has the advantages of simple operation, good treatment effect and no chemical pollution, but there are some limitations to be overcome. With the continuous development of technology, it is believed that the application prospect of vacuum on-line plasma equipment in the field of surface treatment will be more and more broad.