Preparation and characterization of thin organosilicon films deposited on SPR chip

The paper reports on the preparation and characterization of organosilicon thin polymer films deposited on glass slides coated with 5 nm adhesion layer of titanium and 50 nm of gold. The polymer was obtained by the decomposition of 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane precursor (TMDSO) premixed with oxygen induced in a N2 plasma afterglow using remote plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. The film thickness was controlled by laser interferometry and was 9 nm. The chemical stability of the gold substrate coated with the organosilicon polymer film (p-TMDSO) was studied in different acidic and basic solutions (pH 1–14). While the gold/polymer interface showed a high stability in acidic media, the film was almost completely removed in basic solutions. The resulting surfaces were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle measurements, cyclic voltammetry, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR).