The surface of high density polyethylene was modified using low temperature Ar plasma technology under the condition of vacuum pressure of 20 Pa and treatment power of 30 W. The results have been analyzed and characterized with water contact angle measurement, scanned electron microscopy(SEM), atomic force microscopy(AFM), XPS, etc. The results show that the weight loss rate of per unit area has reached maximum value at discharge time of 90 seconds during the treatment time of 0 ~300 s; the water contact angle sharply decreased in the 0～160 s treatment time and their values did not cause significant changes during the 160 ~300 s treatment time; the water contact angle gradually increased with the longer standing time; the surface of HDPE could form some polar species such as carbonyl, hydroxyl and carboxyl groups and the binding energy of the surface changed after treatment by low temperature Ar plasma.