Ar/CH3OH and Ar/N2/CH3OH plasma jets were generated at atmospheric pressure by dual-frequency excitations. Two different cases were studied with focus laid on the generation of CN radicals. In one case Ar gas passed through a bubbler with saturated methanol steam but without addition of N2 （Ar/CH3OH plasma）. In the other case N2 passed through the bubbler with saturated methanol steam （Ar/N2/CH3OH plasma）. The optical emission lines of CN radicals have been observed in these two cases of plasma discharges. The addition of N2 can significantly increase the optical emission intensity of CN bands.
Polymer thin film deposition using an atmospheric pressure micro-plasma jet driven by dual-frequency excitations is described in this paper. The discharge process was operated with a mixture of argon （6 slm） and a small amount of acetone （0-2100 ppm）. Plasma composition was measured by optical emission spectroscopy （OES）. In addition to a large number of Ar spectra lines, we observed some spectra of C, CN, CH and C2. Through changing acetone content mixed in argon, we found that the optimum discharge condition for deposition can be characterized by the maximum concentration of carbonaceous species. The deposited film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy. The XPS indicated that the film was mostly composed of C with trace amount of O and N elements. The FTIR suggested different carbon-containing bonds （-CHx, C=O, C=C, C-O-C） presented in the deposited film.
The commercially available hydrogensilsesquioxane （HSQ） offers a low dielectric constant. In this paper, the impact of oxygen plasma treatment has been investigated on the low- k HSQ films. Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy was used to identify the network structure and cage structure of Si-O-Si bonds and other possible bonds after treatments. C-V and I-V measurements were used to determine the dielectric constant, the electronic resistivity and the breakdown electric field, respectively. The result indicates that oxygen plasma treatment will damage the HSQ films by removing the hydrogen content. Both dielectric constant and leakage current density increase significantly after oxygen plasma exposure. The dielectric constant and leakage current density can both be decreased by annealing at 350 ℃ for 1.5 h in nitrogen ambient. The reason is that the open porous of the external films can be modified and density of thin film be increased. The rough surface can be smoothed.
The deposition of organosilicone thin films from hexamethyldisiloxane（HMDSO） by using a dual-frequency （50 kHz/33 MHz） atmospheric-pressure micro-plasma jet with an admixture of a small volume of HMDSO and Ar was investigated.The topography was measured by using scanning electron microscopy.The chemical bond and composition of these films were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.The results indicated that the as-deposited film was constituted by silicon,carbon,and oxygen elements,and FTIR suggested the films are organosilicon with the organic component （-CHx） and hydroxyl functional group（-OH） connected to the Si-O-Si backbone.Thin-film hardness was recorded by an MH-5-VM Digital Micro-Hardness Tester.Radio frequency power had a strong impact on film hardness and the hardness increased with increasing power.
Ar/C_2H_5OH plasma jet is generated at atmospheric pressure by 33 MHz radio-frequency power source. This RF excitation frequencies which are higher than 13.56 MHz had rarely been used in atmospheric pressure plasma. The plasma characteristics of ethanol are investigated. The introduction of ethanol leads to the generation of four excited carbonaceous species C, CN, CH and C_2 in plasma, respectively. Optical emission intensities of four carbonaceous species were strengthened with ethanol content increasing in the range of 0-4600 ppm. The ethanol content increase results in all the Ar spectra lines decrease. The reason is that the electron temperature decreases when ethanol content is high. The emission intensity ratios of C/C_2, CN/C_2 and CH/C_2 decrease with the increase of ethanol content, showing that the relative amount of C_2 is increasing by increasing the ethanol flow. The emission intensity ratios of excited species did not change much with the increase of RF power in stable discharge mode.
