Densification of functional plasma polymers by momentum transfer during film growth

Functional plasma polymers were deposited from pure ethylene discharges and with the addition of carbon dioxide or ammonia. The incorporation of oxygen and nitrogen-containing functional groups depends on the fragmentation in the gas phase as well as on the densification during film growth. While a minimum energy per deposited carbon atom is required for cross-linking, the densification and accompanying reduction of functional group incorporation was found to scale linearly with momentum transfer through ion bombardment during film growth.