Competitive Ablation and Polymerization (CAP) Mechanisms of Glow Discharge Polymerization

The formation of a polymer in a glow discharge is a complex phenomenon, and the interpretation of the formation mechanism is not at all clarified by the misapplication of the term "polymerization". The term "polymerization" is generally accepted to mean that the molecular units (monomers) are linked together by the "polymerization" process. Consequently, the resultant polymer is conventionally named by using the prefix "poly" plus the name of the monomer. For instance, the polymer formed by the polymerization of styrene is referred to as polystyrene . In other words, "polymerization" conventionally refers to molecular polymerization; that is, the chemical structure of a polymer can be derived from the chemical structure of the monomer. Strictly speaking, "polymerization" in the conventional sense does not represent the process of polymer formation that occurs in a glow discharge, because in glow discharge atomic polymerization may take place instead of molecular polymerization. Because of this atomic