Deposition of C-F Thin Films by Sputtering and Their Micro-Mechanical Properties

Deposition of carbon fluorinated (C-F) and Graphite/PTFE films using RF magnetron sputtering is reported in this article. The films fabricated with forming argon plasma and laying several millimeter size of poly-tetra-fluoroethylene (PTFE) up graphite as targets are characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, automatic contact angle meter, surface free energy analyzer and surface profile measuring system. Results indicate that there have been C-F bonding and Carbon amorphous structure existing in modified surfaces, the water-repellence of surface modified under different conditions has been increased, and their surface free energy shows lower as comparing with silicon substrate essentially due to C-F bonding existing. In addition, in order to understand the micro-mechanical characteristics of the films in detail, the viscoelastic properties of surface deposited films were studied with atomic force microscope (AFM). Tan δ of PTFE film is low around 0.1. It could be confirmed that viscoelastic properties of surface are able to be changed and improved by surface modification method.