IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Plasma Science Monday Sessions
       Session PS-MoP

Paper PS-MoP7
The Effect of Controlling the Ion Energies of a Plasma Polymerised Deposition Surface Upon the Film Structure

Monday, October 29, 2001, 5:30 pm, Room 134/135

Session: Plasma Diagnostics and Plasma-Surface Interactions Poster Session
Presenter: D. Barton, University of Sheffield, UK
Authors: D. Barton, University of Sheffield, UK
R.D. Short, University of Sheffield, UK
J.W. Bradley, UMIST, UK
Correspondent: Click to Email
The formation of plasma polymerised films has been the subject of intensive research over many years. Despite this work and the technological relevance of such films, little attention has been paid to the actual mechanisms involved in both the polymer formation and deposition. In particular, the question of whether the polymer is formed either in the bulk plasma, the sheath region, or at the surface remains unresolved. We present an experimental technique which allows the independent control of positive ion energies at a deposition surface. The technique relies upon feeding an RF signal to the surface which is matched in both phase and amplitude to the RF potentials in the plasma. In this way, it is possible to control the energy of the positive ions at the surface, independently of other plasma parameters. Ions may be a significant constituent of polymer films as previous measurements of the ion flux to a deposition surface have suggested that these particles may be responsible for about 25% of the total polymer mass. Embedded into the deposition surface are plasma diagnostics including a plasma mass spectrometer, quartz mass balance and an ion flux probe. The deposited films are analysed using XPS. Using an acrylic acid monomer, we will relate energy changes of ions striking the surface to the film properties such as extent of cross linking and functionality retention.