AFM and contact angle investigation of growth and structure of pp-HMDSO thin films

HMDSO was plasma polymerized on silicon wafer and polyethylene (PE) substrates. The chemical structure of the pp-HMDSO was analyzed with Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The morphological structure of the thin films deposited on the different substrates was investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM), indicating different coverage mechanisms. In order to investigate the growth process of the pp-HMDSO, films of different thickness were also deposited, varying the plasma deposition time from 10 s to 1800 s. Thickness and structure of such deposits was detected with AFM. Finally, hydrophobic characteristics of the different samples were evaluated by means of contact angle measurements and correlated with the morphological characteristics. © 2009 EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.