화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.61, No.1, 47-56, 1996
The Effect of Film Thickness on Contact Electrification
Contact electrification experiments have been performed for the purpose of studying the effect of varying film thickness on charge transfer during metal-insulator contact. Thin films of plasma polymerized methane are deposited on silicon substrates using a magnetically enhanced glow discharge system. Film uniformity across the wafer is verified by ellipsometric techniques. Variations in film thickness from approximately 100 to 600 Angstrom result in a variable amount of charge transfer when the films come in contact with a metal probe. Charging of the polymer film increases with increasing him thickness up to a limiting thickness of approximately 375-400 Angstrom. Similar results are obtained when various substrate treatments are performed previous to film deposition and charge measurements are obtained as a function of film thickness. Contact electrification measurements show the metal-insulator contact is influenced by the insulator/substrate interface up to the same limiting film thickness (375-400 Angstrom). The instrumentation used in this series of experiments is based on measurement of the currents associated with the contact and subsequent separation of the surface state systems of a metal and an insulating polymer. This technique relies on measurement of currents in the picoampere range and appears to be a novel method to experimentally determine charge penetration depth.