Organosilicon function of gas barrier films purely deposited by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition system

The novel design of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source with the parallel electrodes embedded in quartz tubes was developed in this study. The advantages of the inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICPCVD) system were less ion-bombardment effect during the OLED encapsulation process and low cost to manufacture. The encapsulation structure of organosilicon/SiOx thin films deposited on flexible plastic substrates was purely deposited by the single chamber ICPCVD system under various hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and Ar flow ratios. To investigate the organosilicon film function, the ratio of HMDSO ambient was varied during deposition process and the associated bonding configurations were measured. With an adequate power of 400 W and HMDSO atmosphere of 60%, the polymer-like organosilicon films were obtained due to the long chain structures. Finally, the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of one dyad barrier decreases to the 0.021 g/m2/day due to the stress release of SiOx films caused by the polymer-like films.

► The inductively coupled plasma with parallel electrodes embedded in quartz tubes was developed.
► The organosilicon/SiOx thin films were deposited by the single chamber.
► The degree of the polymerization was controlled by RF power and the fraction of monomer.
► Lower cage/linear ratio and higher polymerization ratio, the better WVTR could be obtained.