XPS Study of Plasma- and Argon Ion-Sputtered Polytetrafluoroethylene

The similarity of plasma-polymerized tetrafluoroethylene (PPTFE) and the fluoropolymer film deposited by rf (radio frequency) plasma sputtering (SPTFE) of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), noted earlier in the literature, has been reconfirmed. FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared), XPS (X ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and UV (ultraviolet) spectroscopy has been employed in apparently the first study to involve preparation of PPTFE and SPTFE in the same reactor and under comparable low-power plasma conditions. Most of the work concerned the use of He or Ar as sputtering gas, but some runs were also carried out with the other rare gases Ne, Kr and Xe. The C1s XPS spectra of SPTFE films displayed a relatively higher content of CF2 groups, and yielded higher F/C (fluorine / carbon) ratios, than PPTFE films, while the SPTFE films were somewhat more transparent in the UV than PPTFE. The F/C ratios for SPTFE were essentially independent of the rare gas used for sputtering. Increasing rf power from 10 to 50 W for Xe plasma-sputtering of PTFE resulted in successively lower F/C ratios (1.55 to 1.21), accompanied by sputtering of the glass reactor occurring at 40 W and above. Some limited XPS, FT-IR and UV data are presented on Ar ion-sputtered PTFE.