Protection of Polymer from Atomic-Oxygen Erosion using Al2O3 Atomic Layer Deposition Coatings

Abstract

Thin films of Al2O3 grown using atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques can protect polymers from erosion by oxygen atoms. To quantify this protection, polyimide substrates with the same chemical repeat unit as Kapton (registered trademark) were applied to quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors. Al2O3 ALD films with varying thicknesses were grown on the polyimide substrates. The ALD-coated polyimide materials were then exposed to a hyperthermal atomic-oxygen beam. The mass loss versus oxygen-atom exposure time was measured in situ by the QCM. Al2O3 ALD film thicknesses of ~35 angstroms were found to protect the polymer from erosion.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA503737

Entities

People

  • Hari P. Upadhyaya
  • Michael R. Berman
  • Russell Cooper
  • Steven M. George
  • Timothy K. Minton
  • Xiaohua Du

Organizations

  • Montana State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aluminum Oxides
  • Chemical Vapor Deposition
  • Chemistry
  • Coatings
  • Electron Microscopes
  • Films
  • Line Of Sight
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Metallic Nanoparticles
  • Oxides
  • Oxygen
  • Polymers
  • Quartz Crystal Microbalances
  • Thin Films

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.