Morphology and structure of polymer fluorocarbon coatings on polyimide by sputtering

A series of polymeric fluorocarbon coatings have been deposited on polyimide (PI) substrate by RF magnetron sputtering polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) target. A study on sputtering parameter dependence of the morphology, molecular structure and hydrophobicity of the coatings has been made. Analysis of XPS indicates that the coatings are highly crosslinked-unsaturated and the low ratios of fluorine to carbon are remarkably influenced by power and slightly affected by pressure. The double nanosized gain-pore coating surface in the double polymer target-substrate system can be expected to greatly enhance the solvent-resistance and hydrophobicity.