THE INFLUENCE OF CHEMICALLY REACTING BOUNDARY SURFACES ON THE OXIDATIVE-DEGRADATION OF POLYIMIDE IN A NONEQUILIBRIUM PLASMA

Gravimetric and mass-spectrometric studies on the etching of a PM-1 po lyimide in an oxygen dc glow-discharge plasma were performed at pressu res and discharge currents in the ranges of 50 - 200 Pa and 30 - 90 mA , respectively. The dependences of both etching rates and fluxes of ga seous products on the polyimide surface area which is in contact with the plasma were obtained. The results obtained were explained by takin g the data from probe measurements into consideration and by using cal culations based on solving the Boltzmann rate equation.