Synergy Between Plasma‐Assisted ALD and Roll‐to‐Roll Atmospheric Pressure PE‐CVD Processing of Moisture Barrier Films on Polymers

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In this paper, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited SiO 2 layers capped by an ultra-thin plasma-assisted atomic layer deposited Al 2 O 3 over-layer are analyzed by means of ellipsometric porosimetry (EP). In a very recent contribution, we have shown that the combination of the two layers provided excellent intrinsic moisture permeation barrier performance down to the 10 −5 -10 −6 g · day −1 · m −2 regime. The present paper therefore addresses the microstructural changes which the SiO 2 layers undergo upon Al 2 O 3 deposition, as monitored by ellipsometric porosimetry (EP). It was found that the Al 2 O 3 deposition primarily affects the relative content of open pores with d > 0.3 nm (water as probe) and d > 0.42 nm (ethanol as probe) from 5.35 to 2.81% and from 2.50 to 0.32%, respectively. K E Y W O R D S ellipsometric porosimetry, gas permeation, moisture barrier layers, nano-porosity, plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD)

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the synergistic effect of inorganic/inorganic barrier layers: An ellipsometric porosimetry investigation

Aghaee

Perrotta

Starostin

et al. 2017

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“…The use of the buffer layer is potentially responsible for the exceptionally smooth bilayer barriers, as it appears to smoothen the PEN substrate profile in preparation for the bilayer barrier deposition. This buffer layer‐induced substrate smoothening is also known to be an important factor with regard to reducing the gas permeation rate of the final films …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of a buffer layer is therefore, vital with regard to achieving the remarkable WVTR performance of the bilayer films, especially at higher input energies. The precise function of the buffer layer is unknown at present, however, it is speculated that the layer could provide a means of mechanical stabilization to the PEN substrate in preparation for the barrier layer deposition, as highlighted by the AFM topographic analysis and in the recent publication by Starostin et al…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The encapsulation potential of hybrid inorganic layered architectures comprising an inorganic dyad, or nano‐laminates with different chemical compositions and densities, was recently evaluated . Notable barrier performances were demonstrated, highlighting the synergistic effects of the inorganic layered architecture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of these particular hybrid structured layers were, however, produced both at low pressure and using low deposition rate processes. Conversely, Starostin et al showed that a combination of roll‐to‐roll AP‐PECVD and stationary plasma assisted ALD could be used to deposit a multilayer silica‐alumina moisture permeation barrier on a polymeric substrate that exhibited excellent intrinsic (10 −5 –10 −6 g m −2 d −1 (at 20 °C, 50% RH)), and good effective (10 −3 g m −2 d −1 (at 40 °C, 90% RH)) WVTR performance. The promising result was attributed to two phenomena.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric pressure roll‐to‐roll plasma enhanced CVD of high quality silica‐like bilayer encapsulation films

Elam

Starostin

Meshkova

et al. 2016

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A glow like atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge in a roll‐to‐roll setup was used to synthesize 90 nm silica‐like bilayer encapsulation films composed of a 30 nm dense “barrier layer” and a comparatively less dense 60 nm “buffer layer” onto a polyethylene 2,6 naphthalate substrate by means of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Tetraethyl orthosilicate was used as the precursor gas, together with a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. The microstructure, chemical composition, morphology, and permeation properties of the films were studied as a function of the specific energy delivered per precursor molecule, and oxygen concentration in the gas mixture, during the deposition of the barrier layer. The presence of the buffer layer within the bilayer architecture critically enhanced the encapsulation performance of the bilayer films, and this in conjunction with increasing the specific energy delivered per precursor molecule during the barrier layer deposition to a value of 20 keV, enabled an effective water vapor transmission rate as low as 6.9 × 10−4 g m−2 d−1 (at 40 °C, 90% relative humidity (RH)) to be achieved. Furthermore, the bilayer film structure has given rise to a remarkable 50% reduction in deposition energy consumption per barrier area with respect to single layer silica‐like films of equivalent encapsulation performance and thickness.

A combinatorial approach to enhance barrier properties of thin films on polymers: Seeding and capping of PECVD thin films by PEALD

Gebhard

Mitschker

Hoppe

et al. 2018

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A combinatorial approach to deposit gas barrier layers (GBLs) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) is presented. Thin films of SiO x and SiO x C y H z obtained from PECVD were grown either subsequently on a PEALD seeding layer (SiO 2 ) or were capped by ultrathin PEALD films of Al 2 O 3 or SiO 2 . To study the impact of PEALD layers on the overall GBL performance, PECVD coatings with high macro defect densities and low barrier efficiency with regard to the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) were chosen. PEALD seeding layers demonstrated the ability to influence the subsequent PECVD growth in terms of the lower macro defect density (9 macro-defects mm −2 ) and improved barrier performance (OTR = 0.8 cm 3 m −2 day −1 ), while the PEALD cappingroute produced GBLs free of macro-defects.