ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF LOW-PRESSURE HYDROGEN PLASMA CLEANING ON STAINLESS STEEL WEIGHTS

R. Högström, K. Riski, M. Ojanen, M. Heinonen

Abstract

Despite the new definition of the Kilogram, physical weights prone to contamination will still be used in the dissemination of the unit. Cleaning is applied to bring the weight surface to a well-defined state to allow predictable adsorption behaviour. Currently used mechanical cleaning methods show poor reproducibility. Therefore, non-contact cleaning techniques such as plasma cleaning have been introduced. In this study, the applicability of low-pressure hydrogen plasma for cleaning stainless steel weights was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and gravimetric weighing. Results show that hydrogen plasma effectively removes surface contamination without damaging the surface. Successive ultrasonic cleaning in ethanol did not considerably reduce surface contamination.

Keywords

AFM, hydrogen plasma cleaning, stainless steel weight, surface contamination

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IMEKO-TC3-2014-004.pdf

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IMEKO TC

TC3 - Measurement of Force, Mass, Torque, and Gravity

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