Functional properties of Plasma polymer coatings deposited using a hollow cathode arc discharge based PECVD process

This thesis focusses on the deposition of thin (100 nm up to 3 µm) coatings on flexible polymeric substrates using a hollow cathode arc discharged based plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. This new plasma source opens the opportunity for much higher deposition rates compared to classical PECVD technologies. The coatings were deposited in a so-called Roll-to-Roll technology.
As residual stress in the coating may cause failure of the device during service , detailed discussion is provided where the different contributions towards the total residual stress are discussed. It was found that the internal stress is the most dominant contribution towards the total stress but can be largely influenced by modifying the process deposition parameters. External applied forces during the deposition but also environmental conditions like the relative humidity and temperature were found to affect the residual stress state of the coatings. The effect of the relative humidity was found to be reversible whereas an increased temperature leads to an irreversible change in the residual stress state.
The work in this thesis contributed towards an improved understanding of the deposition process. Several possible applications are addressed to use the investigated coatings as adhesion promotion layer and to improve the mechanical robustness of underlying coatings.