Use of Low-Pressure Plasma Spraying Equipment to Produce Thin Films and Thick Coatings Using Liquid and Gaseous Precursors

This work shows that low-pressure plasma spraying equipment can be used to deposit layers of varying thickness from liquid or gaseous precursors. In particular, HMDSO and oxygen are used to deposit SiOx thin films over large areas at deposition rates exceeding 35 nm/s and conversion efficiency better than 50%. The coatings are analyzed ex-situ by FTIR absorption spectroscopy and the microstructure and morphology of layer cross-sections are examined by SEM. The effects of various process parameters are investigated as well.