Reproducibility in plasma polymerized methane films as determined by contact electrification measurements

The problem of charge variability has been resolved for plasma polymer films on silicon substrates using the contact-separation technique. Charge measurements demonstrated that variability in contact charging on samples deposited simultaneously is much lower than previously reported. The progress in this area is believed to be due to the fact that the films are uniform in thickness and are deposited on smooth substrates with controlled and reproducible deposition conditions. The effect of postdeposition ambient on the stability of film properties was also studied by monitoring the electrical properties over time with the contact-separation measurement. A postdeposition oxygen soak was found to minimize the changes in electrical parameters