The physical mechanism of RF discharge at atmospheric pressure was studied at discharge frequencies of 13.56 MHz and 0.6 MHz. The discharge at 0.6 MHz had a clear filamentary structure, while discharge at 13.6 MHz had no separate filaments. The influence of discharge on the properties of polymer surfaces was also investigated, using two surface property indicators, the contact angle with water and adhesion strength. As a result of sample processing in the discharge, the wetting angle of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE), polyethylene (PE), polyimide (PI) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) decreased to 40 degrees, 20 degrees, 20 degrees and 25 degrees, respectively, and the adhesion of PTFE increased four fold.

Keywords: RF discharge; voltage-current characteristics; adhesion; contact angle