Pulsed Aerosol-Assisted Low-Pressure Plasma for Thin-Film Deposition

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is a well-developed technique that is commonly applied in the preparation of thin films. However, this technique is limited to thermodynamically stable and chemically inert precursor gases or vapors. Recently, pulsed aerosol-assisted plasma processes have em...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPlasma chemistry and plasma processing Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 1343 - 1356
Main Authors Carnide, G., Simonnet, C., Parmar, D., Zavvou, Z., Klein, H., Conan, R., Pozsgay, V., Verdier, T., Villeneuve-Faure, C., Kahn, M. L., Stafford, L., Clergereaux, R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.05.2024
Springer Verlag
Subjects
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemical and Process Engineering
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Engineering Sciences
Inorganic Chemistry
Mechanical Engineering
Original Paper
Reactive fluid environment
Pulsed direct liquid injection
Low-pressure RF plasma
PE-CVD
Aerosol
Plasma deposition
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is a well-developed technique that is commonly applied in the preparation of thin films. However, this technique is limited to thermodynamically stable and chemically inert precursor gases or vapors. Recently, pulsed aerosol-assisted plasma processes have emerged as an advantageous alternative that allows for the injection of various liquid solutions in the plasma, regardless of their properties. This study examines the production of thin films by pulsed injection of pentane aerosols into a low-pressure RF capacitively coupled plasma. This technique produces thin films with high material balance and a high degree of control by adjusting the pulsed injection parameters. At the pulse scale, pulsed injection induces a temporary increase in the working pressure, resulting in time-dependent mechanisms that can affect the dynamics of thin-film deposition at the process scale. Overall, the results show a key role of droplets and their kinetics (ballistic transport, vaporization kinetics, electrostatic confinement). Hence, to efficiently apply this method in the preparation of (multi-)functional coatings, the aerosol must be carefully characterized.
ISSN:0272-4324
1572-8986
DOI:10.1007/s11090-024-10455-x