Abstract
For the first time in atmospheric pressure-plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition of amorphous silica onto flexible polymer substrates, pinholes have been visibly detected using interferometric microscopy and their average diameter of 1.7 μm calculated. Pinholes were found to control the water vapour transmission rate of all 30 nm films deposited with input energies greater than 9 keV per precursor molecule, thus presenting an opportunity for the synthesis of single layer thin films with precisely targeted permeation rates. The pinholes themselves were understood to originate from interactions between the polymer substrate and filaments in the plasma. The non-uniformity of the discharge was attributed to the reduced concentrations of precursor tetraethyl orthosilicate and oxygen species necessary to deposit amorphous silica at high specific energies.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 43LT01 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 43 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 24 Sept 2018 |
Funding
This research received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 606889; project ESR7 in the framework of the RAPID (Reactive Atmospheric Plasma processIng—eDucation network) Marie Curie Initial Training Network (www.rapid-itn.eu). The work is also in association with the Industrial Partnership Programme i31 (APPFF) that is carried out under an agreement between FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. and FOM, which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The author would like to thank R van Bei-jnen, E Gommers and B Korngold (FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V., Tilburg, The Netherlands) for their technical assistance.
Keywords
- AP-PECVD
- defects
- encapsulation flms
- plasma-surface interactions
- porosity
- silica thin flms
- silica thin films
- encapsulation films