OBTAINED IN A GLOW DISCHARGE PLASMA

The wide use of thin polymeric films (TF) obtained by polymerization in a gas discharge plasma, in the cryoelectronics, for the hermetization of semiconducting instruments, integral schemes, etco, presents more stringent requirements with respect to the stability of their electrophysical properties [i]. An important factor influencing the dielectric properties of the TF is the stabilization in them of radical states in the polymerization process during the simultaneous action of active plasma components (electrons, ions, excited particles, radical electromagnetic components) [2]. It has already been shown [3] that by the action of gas discharge plasma on polymers, ionic states are also stabilized, as indicated by the thermoluminescence (TL) of the polymers. We have reported on the thermoluminescence of thin polymeric films obtained in a glow discharge plasma in [4]. Hence, it follows that the stability of the dielectric properties of TF is determined by the fact that not only radical states, but also ionic states, are present in them. The aim of the present work was to study the ionic states in TF by the TL and radiothermoluminescence (RTL) methods. Data are also given on the EPR spectra of the radical states formed in TF under the experimental conditions used. EXPERIMENTAL The TF were obtained by the plasmochemical polymerization of p-xylene (PX) or octamethyltrisiloxane (OMTS) by the action of glow or high-frequency (}iF) discharge by a method described in [i]. The polymerization in the glow discharge was carried out on the surface of electrodes or in the interelectrode space. The EPR spectra were recorded on an RE 1301 radiospectrometer at 77 K, using a CuCI 2. 2H=0 single crystal as internal standard. The TL and RTL curves were recorded in an apparatus with a working temperature range of -83 to 473 K. To increase the sensitivity of the apparatus, a special cell was constructed, in which samples with a larger area could be placed, than in the normally used RTL apparatus [5]. The structure of the cell also enabled heating of the samples in an inert atmosphere (argon). The rate of thawing of the samples during the TL and RTL recording was 12 K/min. In the RTL study of thin films, their irradiation was carried out in a linear accelerator with an electron energy of l0 s eV at a temperature of 77 K; the irradiation dose was ~2 Mrad.