The modification of polymer surfaces by the deposition of thin films

Techniques for depositing thin films onto polymers are now being developed which result in extremely good adhesion. They allow the formation of hard, abrasion resistant, inorganic materials on the surface of the polymer, but in the process they modify its surface. The process that has been investigated and is reported here is that of reactive dc planar magnetron sputtering of oxides onto high quality optically clear sheet polymers with and without surface preparation in a plasma provided by an rf discharge. The film-substrate interface has been investigated using depth profiling XPS analysis.