Rf sputtering of composite SiOx/plasma polymer films and their basic properties

Composite SiOx/PTFE films were deposited by rf sputtering in argon using balanced magnetron equipped with a PTFE/SiO2 target. The composition of deposited films, found by XPS and FTIR, ranged from fluorocarbon plasma polymers with very small SiOx content up to coatings with a greater incorporation of SiOx. The hardness of fluorocarbon polymer films with increased concentration of SiOx was 2400 N/mm(2). This is between two to three times higher than in the case of fluorocarbon plasma polymers with very low SiOx content. The static contact angle of water ranges from 112 to 95degrees and the refractive index from 1.49 to 1.43, when incorporation of SiOx into fluorocarbon plasma polymer matrix decreases. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.