Deposition of Silicon Dioxide Thin Film by Means of “Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Torch (CAPPLAT)”

Glass-like thin films were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using the atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet generated with argon as working gas fed with nitrogen bubbled tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) or hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as precursors. The temperature of substrates exposed to the plasma jet was measured and changes in plasma stability was monitored. A slight temperature raise of the substrate was observed. The larger flow of nitrogen stabilized the plasma jet at higher applied voltages, while it decreased the plasma emission intensity. The prepared thin films were analyzed by FT-IR and XPS. A glass-like thin film with a small amount of carbon (less than 10 mol%) was successfully obtained when TMOS was used as precursor and the film thickness was proportionally increased with exposure time. In a similar procedure, CVD films were deposited on cycloolefin polymer plates resulting in smooth and uniform films.