Growth Modes of SiO x Films Deposited by Evaporation and Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition on Polymeric Substrates

In order to study the very first stages of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of SiO₂ on polymer substrates, we used a distributed electron cyclotron resonance (DECR) reactor, with the substrate placed (I) in the active glow zone, (II) downstream therefrom, and (III) downstream, but shielded from photon emission (e.g., VUV) from the plasma. For comparison, we also study films deposited by physical vapor ddposition (PVD, thermal evaporation). To characterize the ultra-thin deposits, we used oxygen plasma etching combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). We elucidate the roles of various energetic species (VUV photons, ions, atomic oxygen, and other radicals) in the plasma during the earliest growth phase, and the origin of the interphase which is present between the deposited SiO₂ and the polymer substrate.