Gas permeation barriers deposited by atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition

This paper reports on aluminum oxide (Al2O3) thin film gas permeation barriers fabricated by atmospheric pressure atomic layer deposition (APPALD) using trimethylaluminum and an Ar/O2 plasma at moderate temperatures of 80 °C in a flow reactor. The authors demonstrate the ALD growth characteristics of Al2O3 films on silicon and indium tin oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate. The properties of the APPALD-grown layers (refractive index, density, etc.) are compared to that deposited by conventional thermal ALD at low pressures. The films films deposited at atmospheric pressure show water vapor transmission rates as low as 5 × 10−5 gm−2d−1.