Low-Temperature Deposition of Aluminum Oxide on Polyethersulfone Substrate Using Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

Abstract

Very uniform films could be deposited on polyethersulfone (PES) by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using as O-precursor at temperatures ranging from 90 to 150°C. Although the use of rf plasma was prone to induce bending of the plastic substrate, lowering rf power and deposition temperature could eliminate the bending of the PES substrate in PEALD of an layer. At 100°C, films were deposited successfully by PEALD with 0.3 s rf pulse width and 300 W, with no measurable bending of substrate and decrease of deposition rate. The etch rate of PEALD films deposited at 100°C, was slow as a factor of 2.6 compared to that of ALD films deposited at 100°C. © 2003 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.