Thin Film Deposition using Atmospheric Pressure Microplasmas

Summary form only given. It is desirable to use atmospheric pressure plasmas for thin film material processing because of the lower facility costs compared to vacuum processing and the possibility to operate continuous rather than batch processes. However, several major concerns exist in attempting to use atmospheric pressure plasmas for the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of thin films. These include: 1) the creation of stable non-thermal plasma discharges, 2) discharge uniformity and size, and 3) particle formation. In this research we address these issues with reference to the use of DC and RF microplasmas for the atmospheric pressure PECVD (APPECVD) of hydrogenated amorphous carbon film a-C:H from H₂, CH₄ precursors.