Preparation, Structure And Properties Of Sputtered Fluorocarbon Film On Polymer Substrates

Fluorocarbon Films are prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used as targets. Fluorocarbon Films are deposited onto polyimide ( PI ) and polypropyrene ( PP ) substrates, respectively. Various discharge conditions (voltage, vacuum and treating time) are discussed. The growth mechanism of fluorocarbon films are initially studied and their morphology are observed by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atom Force Microscopy(AFM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy ( TEM ) . From the photos of SEM, we found that the particles of fluorocarbon films distribute more uniformly, join more tightly and diameter of the particles become smaller with increasing of power and pressure. With increasing treating time, the particles grow into islands, and finally construct film. The test of AFM indicates that the shape of fluorocarbon films particles on PI substrate quite peculiar, and roundness on PP substrate. By means of TEM we found the speed of deposit on PI substrate faster than that of on PP substrate.The surface structure of fluorocarbon films is also investigated by XPS. The ratio F/C decreases with the increase of power, but increases when pressure increase. The power has more marked effect on F/C than that of pressure. Contact angle of fluorocarbon films obtained at different of power, pressure and treating time. It is found that contact angle decrease with power increase, andincrease with pressure increase. The affect of treating time is very complex.