A Mechanisms and Kinetics Study of Polymeric Thin-Film Deposition in Glow Discharge

Polymeric thin-film deposition in a capacitively coupled rf glow discharge of styrene has been investigated. A kinetic scheme for the polymerization was proposed in which initiation of monomers by electron impact was followed by propagation and termination as in conventional polymerization, the initiation rate constant being a function of electron temperature alone. Four mechanism models were examined, depending on where each reaction step takes place: in the gas phase or on the substrate. Free-radical polymerization was assumed. Experiments were carried out at pressures ranging from 0.25 to 1.05 Torr and at voltages and currents that yielded cold and stable discharges. Substrate temperature was controlled. Deposition rate was determined by weighing. A regression program was used in addition to experimental tests in which substrate temperature was varied. The best approximation to the plasma polymer deposition process was found to be the following model: monomers are activated in the gas phase by electron bombardment and subsequently diffuse to the substrate where they propagate and terminate, adsorption of monomers on the substrate playing an important role. A rate expression relating polymer film deposition rate to the experimental variables is presented.