Materials surface properties were improved by the application of a rf glow discharge treatment for vacuum and electronic applications. The surface morphology was studied under different glow discharge treatments and it could be shown by experiments that the roughness of materials surface varied due to the glow discharge treating process and that a clean and smooth surface could be obtained after the treatment. The experimental results revealed that the outgassing rates for different gases decreased and the evacuating properties for the materials improved following the application of the glow discharge treatment. (c) 2006 American Vacuum Society.