Plasma‐polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane (pp‐HMDSO) thin films have been deposited in a radiofrequency (RF) remote plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system, on different types of substrates: silicon wafers, glass, quartz crystals, and chemiresistor structure. The as‐grown thin films have been post treated in two types of reactive plasmas produced in SF6 and O2 gases. The effect of this surface modification on different properties of the as‐grown pp‐HMDSO thin film (chemical structure, elemental composition, surface morphology, film density and thickness, optical bandgap, and electrical resistivity) has been investigated. It is found that SF6 plasma and O2 plasma surface modifications of the as‐grown pp‐HMDSO thin film induce property changes different from each other. SF6 plasma converted the as‐grown pp‐HMDSO film to a more porous material and caused a narrowing of its optical band gap of about 33%, while O2 plasma induced a lowering of film electrical resistivity of about two orders of magnitude.

In this study, He/O2 plasma mixture, induced in a radio frequency (RF) low‐pressure remote plasma system, has been characterized and employed for polymer surface modification. Actinometry optical emission spectroscopy (AOES) and Langmuir probe techniques were used to evaluate the plasma active species contributing to polymer surface modification. These active species involve the atomic oxygen [O] and the electrons (ne). Five different polymers (poly(methyl methacrylate) [PMMA], polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE], polyethylene [PE], polyvinyl chloride [PVC], and polystyrene [PS]) were plasma treated and subsequently characterized for etching rate, surface morphology using atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique, and chemical elemental composition using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique.

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