ESR Study of Trimethylsilane Plasma Polymer Part II; Effect of Consecutive Treatments and Mixed Gases

An ESR study has indicated that a second plasma treatment on plasma deposited films from trimethylsilane (TMS) monomer gas has the ability to modify the characteristics of the primary plasma polymer significantly in a favorable manner for many applications. The effect of the second plasma polymerization on the primary plasma polymer of TMS depends on the nature of the second monomer. Plasma of F-containing monomer, hexafluoroethane (HFE) and perfluoromethane (CF₄), decreases the ESR signal of TMS and no detectable signal due to F-containing monomer was found. The decay rate of the signal decreased significantly. In contrast to this situation, CH₄ plasma treatment yields an ESR signal that is a composite of that observed from TMS and CH₄ films individually. The overall signal increased in this instance, but didn't show appreciable decay in 24 hr period. A second treatment by nonpolymer forming plasmas also decreased the ESR signal of TMS, and decreased the decay rate, indicating that the second gas plasma treatment yields a somewhat similar effect found with the HFE plasma treatment. Plasma polymerization of mixtures of TMS and nonpolymer-forming gases increased the ESR signal but decreased the decay rate, except in the case of oxygen. A mixture of (TMS + O₂) behaved as a completely different monomer. No ESR signal was found in this system. The ESR analysis was supported by XPS data and an insight into the mechanisms occurring in these thin films are discussed.