By flowing gases through arrays of microhollow cathode holes, large area (12 mm in diameter) uniform and stable discharges could be generated by a rf power supply. Both the rf power and the gas flow through the cathode holes played key roles in maintaining uniform and stable discharges. The discharges could be stable for a period longer than one hour in pure helium (He) and in He containing 1% hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO). By using a third steel electrode biased with a pulse power supply (100 kHz, 50% duty cycle), the plasma from arrays of cathode holes could be extended to 20 mm in length. Amorphous carbon films deposited by the extended atmospheric plasma using 1% HMDSO/He reactants exhibited the same structure as those by low pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition.

Multilayer barrier films were fabricated by stacking multiple pairs of inorganic and organic layers on organic-treated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates. The inorganic and organic moisture barrier layers were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and bar coating, respectively, at room temperature. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) through six pairs of inorganic/organic stacking layers can reach 2.1×10-5 g m-2 day-1. By laminating two PET substrates, both coated with two pairs of inorganic/organic barrier layers, individually achieving a WVTR of 5 ×10-3 g m-2 day-1, an ultrahigh-strength moisture barrier film could be produced with the WVTR significantly lowered to as much as 4×10-5 g m-2 day-1, which was in the same order of magnitude as a single PET film coated with six pairs of inorganic/organic stacking layers. Even after bending 5,000 times, the laminated barrier film maintained not only the high moisture barrier strength but also the good optical transparency and flexibility. The possible reason for the significant improvement of the moisture barrier strength by lamination is also proposed.

SiO-containing DLC films are deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on Si substrate. The effect of SiO, dopants on the stress, adhesion and hydrophobicity of the DLC films are studied. The incorporation of SiO, in the DLC films deposited by using hexamethyldisiloxane(HMDSO) and CH4 mixture reduces the residual stress as well as enhances adhesion ofthe film on the substrate. Besides, the thermal stability ofthe film also improves.The incorporation of SiO, in the DLC film, as deposited by using HMDSO/CH4 mixture, can raise the water contact angle from 95°, as for the pure DLC film, to 1 10°. IR results show that the increase of contact angle is mainly due to the incorporation of a higher concentration of -CH3 group in the HMDSO-deposited films. By adding 02 with HMDSO, the contact angle of the deposited film can be reduced to 27°, showing hydrophilic property. By enhancing the surface roughness, the water contact angle can be further increased to 145° for the hydrophobic films deposited using HMDSO/CH4, and the water contact angle can be further reduced to 3° for the hydrophilic films deposited using HMDSO/02.