Etching of bacterial endospores of Bacillus subtilis in an inductively coupled low-pressure plasma

Low-pressure plasmas offer a rapid and efficient option for sterilization of pharmaceutical and medical objects. First commercial plasma sterilization reactors are approved by European Medicines Agency (EMA).¹ On short time scales UV/VUV radiation was shown to be the main sterilization mechanism. In order to inactive heterogeneous contamination of microorganisms (i.e., multilayer arrangements of vegetative cells and bacterial endospores) sufficient etching is needed for plasma sterilization.