AVS 47th International Symposium
    Surface Science Thursday Sessions
       Session SS1+MC-ThA

Paper SS1+MC-ThA6
Studies of Water Plasma Treatments on Silicon Oxide Films

Thursday, October 5, 2000, 3:40 pm, Room 208

Session: Oxidation and Molecule-Oxide Interactions
Presenter: N.A. Alcantar, University of California, Santa Barbara
Authors: N.A. Alcantar, University of California, Santa Barbara
T.L. Kuhl, University of California, Davis
A. Stacy, University of California, Santa Barbara
J. Au, University of California, Santa Barbara
E.S. Aydil, University of California, Santa Barbara
J.N. Israelachvili, University of California, Santa Barbara
Correspondent: Click to Email
Chemically active oxide surfaces can react with polymers to enhance their surface properties. Surfaces covered with polyethylene glycol have been shown to reject biological attack and protein adhesion. We activate silicon dioxide (i.e., silica) films by exposing them to water vapor plasma. These activated films are then reacted with polyethylene glycol (PEG, OH-(CH@sub 2@-CH@sub 2@-O)@sub n@-H) to make them biocompatible. We have characterized silica films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) before and after water plasma activation. We found that water plasma treatments chemically and physically modify the silica surface. For instance, water plasma fully saturates the silica surface with hydroxyl groups, significantly reduces their surface roughness without affecting the thickness of the deposited films and increases their cohesion force. This surface modification was monitored by in situ real time attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Other characterization techniques such as ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface forces apparatus (SFA) and contact angle measurements were utilized to fully establish the effects of this surface modification. The optimal water plasma parameters for creating smooth, chemically reactive silicon oxide films were also obtained.