Surface characterization of organosilicon films by low-temperature atmospheric-pressure plasma jet

A new plasma discharge jet was created to carry out the vacuum-free formation of organosilicon thin films at atmospheric pressure. The properties of the plasma-jet-deposited organosilicon film surfaces were evaluated for different plasma powers by contact-angle, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The surface analysis indicates that the plasma power is the main factor affecting film growth by plasma chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure. Analysis of the surface morphology by SEM and AFM indicates that smooth and uniform organosilicon thin films can be synthesized at a relatively low plasma power. Chemical detection by XPS is used to examine the mainly inorganic characteristics of the plasma-jet-deposited organosilicon films. The results of this investigation demonstrate the possibility of growing vacuum-free plasma-deposited films for large-area processing. (C) 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics