Effect of plasma fluorination variables on the deposition and growth of partially fluorinated polymer over PMMA films

In this work, an investigation was made of the modification of film surface of Poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) using the plasma polymerization technique. PMMA films 10 µm thick were obtained by Spin-Coating starting from a chloroform solution (15.36% w/w). The films were exposed to the plasma of CHF3 at different gas pressures and exposure times to increase the thickness of fluorinated polymers onto PMMA films. The plasma fluorinated optical films were characterized by gravimetry, FTIR-ATR, contact angle of wetting, SEM and AFM. The surface fluorination of PMMA films can be inferred by the increase in contact angle under all experimental conditions, and confirmed with FTIR-ATR analysis. Gravimetry showed an increase of the fluorinated polymer layer over PMMA films, being 1.55 µm thick at 0.7 torr and 40 minutes of plasma exposure. The SEM analysis showed a well-defined layer of fluorinated polymer, with fluorine being detected in the EDS analysis. The film roughness for the fluorinated polymers was around of 200 Å, quite satisfactory for a 1.55 µm cladding.