AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS3-TuP

Paper PS3-TuP8
Polymer Surface Modification using Electron Beam-Generated Plasmas

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 6:00 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Advanced Plasma Deposition Poster Session
Presenter: S.G. Walton, US Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: S.G. Walton, US Naval Research Laboratory
D. Leonhardt, US Naval Research Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Electron beam-generated plasmas have several unique characteristics that make them attractive for polymer modification or other processing applications where substrate material sensitivity is an issue. The US Naval Research Laboratory has developed a plasma processing system that relies on a magnetically collimated, sheet of multi-kilovolt electrons to ionize the background gas and produce a planar plasma. High-energy electron beams are efficient at producing high-density plasmas (n@sub e@ > 10@super 11@ cm@super -3@) with low electron temperatures (T@sub e@ < 0.5 eV) over the volume of the beam, resulting in large fluxes of low-energy ions (< 3 eV) at surfaces located adjacent to the electron beam. Most relevant to the processing of sensitive materials is the ability of these sources to provide large fluxes of reactive species and limiting ion kinetic energies to values near common bond strengths, all of which is achieved under low pressure operating conditions and small source-to-substrate distances. In this work, we discuss the processing of common polymers such as polyethylene using pulsed, electron beam-generated plasmas produced in pure argon and mixtures containing reactive gases such as SF@sub 6@ and O@sub 2@. This work focuses on tailoring the surface energy while minimizing substrate damage. Plasma diagnostics used to provide a more complete understanding of the system are also presented. We include the processing of porous polymer substrates using a dual source system specifically designed for the treatment of thin, porous or fibrous sheets. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research.