Influence of plasma discharge on the structure of polytetrafluoroethylene film and step coverage on polymer substrate

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films have been deposited onto polycarbonate (PC) substrates from the products of PTFE evaporation, activated by a cloud of accelerated electrons. A 40.68 MHz glow discharge was used during the deposition process. The polymer films have been characterised by XPS, FTIR and AFM. The use of the low power plasma during film growth led to the formation of PTFE films with modified structure. Films are amorphous and contain more cross-links, but in general, the structure of their macromolecules is still linear. An increase of RF-power leads to the formation of films with large amount of double bonds and enhanced internal stresses. Deposition of PTFE on PC without plasma treatment led to the formation of PTFE clusters up to 50 nm in diameter. The RMS roughness of the films, deposited without plasma, was about 4 nm, while the films deposited with plasma treatment had a roughness of 1.5 nm. The use of plasma has an additional effect if a PTFE coating is deposited on the PC substrate with submicrometer-sized steps. Without plasma the steps retain a rectangular shape. Deposited with the RF-discharge the PTFE layers resemble plasma-polymerised films. Under certain conditions the deposited films can fill trenches in the substrate like a wetting liquid, while under other conditions they avoid trenches and grow in between them.