Effects of helium ion irradiation on fluorinated plasma polymers

The effects of ion irradiation on fluorinated plasma polymer films are investigated using profilometry, surface contact-angle measurements, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Remarkably, helium plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) of several amorphous hydrogenated fluorinated plasma polymers deposited from C2H2–SF6, C6H6–SF6 or C6F6 produces film compactions of up to 40%, and modifies the surface energy in the 35 to 65 dyn cm–1 range. As revealed by IRRAS and XPS, the films contain C–H, C–C, C=C, C=O, O–H and C–F groups. XPS spectra confirm the presence of N (typically ∼ 5%). The films produced from SF6-containing plasmas also contain S. For irradiation times of 80 min, the film carbon content is increased, and the fluorine content is greatly reduced, by factors of about 3 to 15, depending on the initial film composition.