Disclosed herein is a method of improving the adhesion of a hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating to a surface of a MEMS structure, for the purpose of preventing stiction. The method comprises treating surfaces of the MEMS structure with a plasma generated from a source gas comprising oxygen and, optionally, hydrogen. The treatment oxidizes the surfaces, which are then reacted with hydrogen to form bonded OH groups on the surfaces. The hydrogen source may be present as part of the plasma source gas, so that the bonded OH groups are created during treatment of the surfaces with the plasma. Also disclosed herein is an integrated method for release and passivation of MEMS structures which may be adjusted to be carried out in a either a single chamber processing system or a multi-chamber processing system.