AVS 45th International Symposium
    Vacuum Metallurgy Division Monday Sessions
       Session VM+TF-MoM

Paper VM+TF-MoM11
Plasma Polymerization of Fluorine Alloyed Amorphous Carbon Coatings

Monday, November 2, 1998, 11:40 am, Room 328

Session: Ionized-PVD: Processes, Properties, and Applications
Presenter: A. Vanhulsel, KU Leuven, Belgium
Authors: A. Vanhulsel, KU Leuven, Belgium
J.-P. Celis, KU Leuven, Belgium
E. Dekempeneer, VITO, Belgium
J. Smeets, VITO, Belgium
Correspondent: Click to Email
This paper reports on the deposition conditions and characterization of plasma polymerized fluorocarbon coatings grown by an inductively coupled r.f. plasma (ICP) source, using CH@sub 4@ and CF@sub 4@ as precursor gases. SiH@sub 4@, H@sub 2@or Ar were further added to the plasma to investigate their influence on the coating properties. The coatings were characterized by XPS to determine the surface and bulk composition and combined with FTIR-spectroscopy to reveal the structure of the coatings. The mechanical properties (hardness and Young's modulus) were measured by nano-indentation. The surface energy was obtained by contact angle measurements with 2 different liquids. By varying the deposition conditions, we were able to deposit coatings with surface energies as low as 14 mN/m. With the appropriate feed gases and process parameters it is possible to adjust separately the polar and dispersive part of the surface energy. A low polar component of the surface energy corresponds to a high fluorine ,CF@sub 3@and CF@sub 2@ content at the surface of the coatings. The wetting behaviour of the coatings against water is mainly dependent on the polar component. The maximum contact angle achieved was 113°. By adding H@sub 2@ to the plasma, it is possible to minimize the polar component and maximize the dispersive component of the surface energy to obtain a relatively hard (3 GPa) coating with a hydrophobic nature (contact angle (H@sub 2@O) = 90°). The fluorocarbon coatings deposited in this system are not sensitive to atmospheric aging.