DEPOSITION OF PTFE THIN-FILMS BY ION-BEAM SPUTTERING AND A STUDY OF THE ION-BOMBARDMENT EFFECT

Ion beam sputtering technique was employed to prepare thin films of Po lytetrafluroethylene (PTFE). Simultaneous ion beam bombardment during film growth was also conducted in order to study the bombardment effec ts. Infrared absorption (IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) a nd X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to evaluate the material' s integrity. It was found that PTFE thin films could be grown at room temperature by direct sputtering of a PTFE target. The film's composit ion and structure were shown to be dependent on the sputtering energy. Films deposited by single sputtering at higher energy (similar to 150 0 eV) were structurally quite similar to the original PTFE material. S imultaneous ion beam bombarding during film growth caused defluorinati on and structural changes. Mechanism for sputtering deposition of such a polymeric material is also discussed. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevie r Science B.V.