XPS study of the molecular damage of polyimide precursor monomers deposited by glow discharge-induced sublimation

In this work the deposition of thin films of polyimide precursor monomers through glow discharge-induced sublimation (GDS) has been performed. The selected monomers were 2,4,6-trimethyl m-phenylenediamine (TMPD), 3,3′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS), 4,4′-hexafluoroisopropylidene dianiline (6FDAm), 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (BPDA) and 4,4′-hexafluoroisopropylidene diphthalic anhydride (6FDA). rface of the deposited films has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in order to attain a better knowledge of the molecular damage induced by the plasma/monomer interactions and of the incorporation of molecular fragments into the deposited films. Different damage mechanisms are found due to the different molecular structure.