Deposition of Polymer Thin Film Using an Atmospheric Pressure Micro-Plasma Driven by Dual-Frequency Excitation

Polymer thin film deposition using an atmospheric pressure micro-plasma jet driven by dual-frequency excitations is described in this paper. The discharge process was operated with a mixture of argon (6 slm) and a small amount of acetone (0-2100 ppm). Plasma composition was measured by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). In addition to a large number of Ar spectra lines, we observed some spectra of C, CN, CH and C ₂ . Through changing acetone content mixed in argon, we found that the optimum discharge condition for deposition can be characterized by the maximum concentration of carbonaceous species. The deposited film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The XPS indicated that the film was mostly composed of C with trace amount of O and N elements. The FTIR suggested different carbon-containing bonds (-CH _x, C=O, C=C, C-O-C) presented in the deposited film.