[3dem] glow discharge

[Chen Chen]

Dear Lists,

I am wondering if "glow discharge" and "plasma cleaning" are the the same thing because I've seen both terms in literature in our field. As far as I know, the function of glow discharge is to make the grid more hydrophilic. How is this hydrophilicity achieved? Do positive (or negative) charges get deposited on the grid? If indeed so, why it's called "glow discharge" instead of "glow charge"? Lastly, if hydrophilicity is achieved by adding charges to the grid, wouldn't it be very easy to lose the charges once the grid is touched by some conductive material (say tweezers)? Thank you in advance.

Cheers,
Chen