THE INFLUENCE OF STRAIN ON THE PROPERTIES OF PLASMA POLYMERIZED PERMEATION BARRIERS

When a film coated with a plasma polymerized barrier layer is used the mechanical behavior of the barrier layer under strain is particularly important. Since only very little information on this behavior is available in literature, fundamental investigations into this topic are presented in this paper. This involves films being coated with barrier layers, which are subjected to stretching; the permeation behavior of the films is then expressed in terms of the change in the layer morphology. It is seen that the barrier behavior of the plasma polymerized layer is essentially based on a reduction in the adsorption and absorption of the gas molecules at the film surface.