Effect of helium implantation on the properties of plasma polymer films

Polymer films, deposited from acetylene and argon plasma mixtures, were bombarded with 150 keV He+ ions, varying the fluence, Phi, from 10(18) to 10(21) ions/m(2). Molecular structure and optical gap of the samples were investigated by infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopies, respectively. Two-point probe was employed to determine the electrical resistivity while hardness was measured by nanoindentation technique. It was verified modification of the molecular structure and composition of the films. There was loss of H and increment in the concentration of unsaturated carbon bonds with Phi. Optical gap and electrical resistivity decreased while hardness increased with Phi. Interpretation of these results is proposed in terms of chain crosslinking and unsaturation. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

XPS investigation of plasma-deposited polysiloxane films irradiated with helium ions

This work describes an XPS investigation of plasma-deposited polysiloxane films irradiated with 170 keV He+ ions at fluences, Phi, ranging from 1 x 10(14) to 1 x 10(16) cm(-2). Modifications in the atomic concentrations of the surface atoms with (D were revealed by changes in the [O]/[Si], [O]/[C] and [C]/[Si] atomic ratios. Surface chemical structure modifications were evidenced by the increasing C1s peak width and asymmetry as Phi was increased, due to the formation of ether and carboxyl functionalities. Moreover, structural transformations were indicated by the positive binding energy shift of the Si2p peaks, due to the increasing Si oxidation. Correlations of the XPS data with other results from previous work on polysiloxanes illustrate the role of ion beam-induced bond breaking on the structural modifications.

Helium ion irradiation of polymer films deposited from TMS-Ar plasmas

Polymer films synthesized from plasmas of a tetramethylsilane - Ar mixture were modified by irradiation with 170 keV He ions at fluences ranging from 1 x 10(14) to 1 x 10(16) cm(-2). As revealed by infrared spectroscopy, the ion beam produced intense bond rearrangements, such as the depletion of bonding groups (C-H and Si-H), and induced the formation of new ones, such as O-H and Si-O. From the nanoindentation measurements, a remarkable increase in the surface hardness of the films was observed as the ion fluence was increased. The increases in hardness were accompanied by an increase in the film compaction as shown by using a combination of RBS and film thickness measurements. From both hardness and infrared measurements A was concluded that, under the He ion bombardment, the polymer structure is transformed into a silicon oxycarbide network.

Effects of nitrogen ion irradiation on plasma polymerized films produced from titanium tetraiso pro poxide-oxygen-helium mixtures

In this work films were produced by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of titanium tetraisopropoxide-oxygen-helium mixtures and irradiated with 150 keV singly-charged nitrogen ions (N(+)) at fluences, phi, between 10(14) and 10(16) cm(-2). Irradiation resulted in compaction, which reached about 40% (measured via the film thickness) at the highest fluence. Infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) revealed the presence of Ti-O bonds in all films. Both O-H and C-H groups were present in the as-deposited films, but the density of each of these decreased with increasing phi and was absent at high phi, indicating a loss of hydrogen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed an increase in the C to Ti atomic ratio as phi increased, while the O to Ti ratio hardly altered, remaining at around 2.8. The optical gap of the films, derived from data obtained by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UVS), remained at about 3.6 eV for all fluences except the highest, for which an abrupt fall to around 1.0 eV was observed. For the irradiated films, the electrical conductivity, measured using the two-point method, showed a systematic increase with increasing phi. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of titanium(IV) ethoxide-oxygen-helium mixtures

Thin films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from titanium (IV) ethoxide (TEOT)-oxygen-helium mixtures. Actinometric optical emission spectroscopy was used to obtain the relative plasma concentrations of the species H, CH, O and CO as a function of the percentage of oxygen in the feed, R(ox). The concentrations of these species rise with increasing R(ox) and tend to fall for R(ox) greater than about 45%. As revealed by a strong decline in the emission intensity of the actinometer Ar as R(ox) was increased, the electron mean energy or density (or both) decreased as greater proportions of oxygen were fed to the chamber. This must tend to reduce gas-phase fragmentation of the monomer by plasma electrons. As the TEOT flow rate was fixed, however, and since the species H and CH do not contain oxygen, the rise in their plasma concentrations with increasing R(ox) is explained only by intermediate reactions involving oxygen or oxygen-containing species. Transmission infrared (IRS) and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies were employed to investigate film structure and composition. The presence of CH(2), CH(3), C=C, C-O and C=O groups was revealed by IRS. In addition, the presence of C-O and C=O groups was confirmed by XPS, which also revealed titanium in the +4 valence state. The Ti content of the films, however, was found to be much less than that of the monomer material itself. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of helium ion irradiation on fluorinated plasma polymers

The effects of ion irradiation on fluorinated plasma polymer films are investigated using profilometry, surface contact-angle measurements, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Remarkably, helium plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) of several amorphous hydrogenated fluorinated plasma polymers deposited from C(2)H(2)-SF(6), C(6)H(6)-SF(6) or C(6)F(6) produces film compactions of up to 40%, and modifies the surface energy in the 35 to 65 dyn cm(-1) range. As revealed by IRRAS and XPS, the films contain C-H, C-C, C=C, C=O, O-H and C-F groups. XPS spectra confirm the presence of N (typically similar to 5%). The films produced from SF(6)-containing plasmas also contain S. For irradiation times of 80 min, the film carbon content is increased, and the fluorine content is greatly reduced, by factors of about 3 to 15, depending on the initial film composition. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.