Plasmas have long been used in industry to clean surfaces or to process them such that materials like paints or glues adhere to them more effectively. The advantage: Chemical pre-treatment with solvents or other substances can be dispensed with. This saves money and is environmentally friendly. The problem: Previously, only flat surfaces could be treated; the plasma simply slid over recesses, cavities or undercuts. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST have now combined two plasma processes – the plasma jet and the glide discharge – in order to be able to also process three-dimensional components effectively.