Quartz and quartz-like layer systems Quartz is well-known as a hard material.

Because of its high level of transparency in the UV and visible region it is often used as an optical coating material. It is stable against temperature variations and has a remarkable chemical resistivity. For these reasons it is suitable for corrosion protection, scratch resistant layers and for layers in optics and microelectronics. These films can be deposited custom-made from relatively soft polymer-like up to hard polycrystalline for the respective application. Silicon nitride Thin films of silicon nitride are widely used in microelectronics, optoelectronics, optics and hard surface coatings. For the production of effective silicon solar cells reflection losses and surface recombination have to be minimised. Thin plasma polymerised SiN films are used to improve both, the reflection behaviour by adjusting the refractive index of the anti-reflexion coating and the surface properties to avoid recombination at and near to the surface. Further advantages of the silicon nitride films are their hardness and chemical resistivity. For this reason they can be applied as insulator material and barrier layer in many industrial applications. Contact: Dr. M. Walker Dr. A. Schulz Institute of Plasma Research University of Stuttgart Pfaffenwaldring 31 70569 Stuttgart Tel.: +49 (0)711/685 2302 Fax: +49 (0)711/685 3102 E-Mail: pt@ipf.uni-stuttgart.de http.//www.uni-stuttgart.de/ipf

Institute
of

Plasma Research
Director: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Ulrich Stroth

Division:

Plasma Technology

Surface treatment and film deposition

Plasma activation Polymers with their unique properties are used in many industrial applications. Some polymers as for example polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) need a pretreatment to receive a satisfying adhesion for gluing and printing. The improvement of the adhesion can be achieved by a surface modification of the polymer in a low pressure plasma exited by microwaves. A short-time plasma pretreatment results in an improvement of the bond strength by a factor of 30. Encapsulation of thin film solar cells Today the application of photovoltaic devices for the production of electricity is economical in many cases. In order to make photovoltaic more interesting, one important point is to reduce the price. For large-scale productions thin film solar cells are of particular interest. Here the used glass covering can be replaced by thin systems of polymer films deposited in a low pressure microwave sustained plasma process. These films establish new technologies for economical production of flexible photovoltaic modules. Diffusion barriers The decrease of the permeability of plastic tanks is a very important topic in the automotive industry. For the use of polyethylene tanks the permeability of gasoline must be reduced by a factor of 100 compared to the untreated material. An alternative solution to the problematic treatment of polyethylene with the aggressive fluorine gas is the deposition of a thin plasma polymerised barrier layer on the surface of the plastic tank. Compared to uncoated polyethylene the permeability towards gasoline can be reduced by a factor of 3000.

Fuel cells Fuel cells based on ionomer membranes are very important e.g. for zero emission vehicles. A disadvantage of the used membranes in the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is their relatively large permeability of methanol, which leads to a drastic degradation of the efficiency of the fuel cell. By plasma treating of such membranes the permeability can be reduced and additionally the bond strength of the membrane to the catalyst can be improved. Hydrophobic treatment Plasma polymerised films from silicon containing monomers, e.g. hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), can alter wettability of textiles for example. Without plasma treatment a cotton textile is hydrophilic. A thin layer leads to a hydrophobic surface and additionally to a sealing of the textile fibres. Various alterations can be achieved by a plasma treatment, which are partially not attainable with conventional wet chemistry. Plasma sterilisation State of the art sterilisation applications use dry heat, hot steam, hydrogen peroxide or UV light as sterilisation agents. With the use of low pressure microwave plasmas the conventional effect mechanisms are cumulated and used in new, stronger quality. Additionally, new mechanisms are supplied such as radical formation, ion bombardment or vacuum UV radiation. The plasma process leads to low thermal loads of the sterilised materials and no dangerous or toxic chemicals have to be used. In this way e.g. the test spores Bacillus subtilis or Aspergillus niger can be reduced by more than 4 orders of magnitude in the sub second time scale.