Initiated and Oxidative Chemical Vapor Deposition of Polymeric Thin Films: iCVD and oCVD

Abstract

The techniques of initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) and oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) enable the fabrication of chemically well‐defined thin polymeric films on complex objects with micro‐ and nano‐scale features. By depositing polymers from the vapor phase, many wetting and solution effects are avoided, and conformal films can be created. In iCVD, a variant of hot filament CVD, the deposition rate is enhanced and chemical functionalities of the polymers' constituents are maintained by including a thermally labile initiator in the feed stream. Due to the low energy required when using an initiator, delicate substrates can be coated. In oCVD, infusible, electrically conductive films are formed directly on the substrate of interest as the oxidant and monomer are introduced into the reactor simultaneously. This Feature Article provides an overview of the work that has been done to develop iCVD and oCVD into platform technologies. Relevant background, fundamentals, and applications will be discussed.

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“…The following sections will primarily on (i)CVD-based methods. For further information on (o)CVD, please refer to Gleason et al [16,31,33].…”

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“…The biologically-inspired chemical sensor design utilizes available materials in a unique way to form a simple and elegant design. Considering manufacturability, the nanowires connected at both ends to a substrate (Figure 9a) could most likely utilize conventional microelectronic assembly and then be suspended into different polymer solutions [83] or use a polymer chemical vapor deposition technique [84] to coat the nanosprings. Further investigation is necessary to determine if the sensor elements suspended between two grids could be fabricated on the nano-scale.…”

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“…The polymerization is initialized on the substrate surface when the initiator radicals that are created by the thermal decomposition of the initiator molecules react with the adsorbed monomers on the substrate surface. The low operating pressures and substrate temperatures enable polymer deposition on delicate substrates (22). Furthermore, the conformal nature of the iCVD technique can be exploited to coat high aspect ratio features and subsequently create nanotubes of highly cross-linked polymers (23).…”

“…Initiated CVD (21,22) is a vapor phase polymer synthesis technique where the monomer and initiator vapor is delivered into the reactor in the vapor phase. The polymerization is initialized on the substrate surface when the initiator radicals that are created by the thermal decomposition of the initiator molecules react with the adsorbed monomers on the substrate surface.…”