Comparative analysis of hexamethyldisiloxane and hexamethyldisilazane plasma polymer thin films before and after plasma oxidation

Abstract The presented study compares the structure of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSN) plasma polymer thin films with a thickness of about 30 nm before and after a plasma oxidation process, focusing on the analysis of porosity and the correlated electrolyte up‐take in the formed films. The results illustrate that the plasma oxidation treatment converts the HMDSO and HMDSN plasma polymer films progressively into SiO x ‐like films. However, the underlying mechanism of the etching of C x H y groups and the condensation of intermediate Si‐OH groups leads to highly porous films. The studies show that the differences in the chemical structure and nanoporosity as measured by spectroscopic techniques could be correlated with the resulting up‐take of electrolytes in the open pores of the films.