The Morphology of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Thin Films Formed by Pulsed-Laser Deposition

Thin films of polytetrafluoroethylene have been formed by the pulsed-laser deposition technique. The structure of the films was found to be dependent upon the substrate temperature during deposition. At substrate temperatures from room temperature to 200°C the films were determined, by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques, to be amorphous. Films formed at higher substrate temperatures were found to contain both amorphous and crystalline components. The data for the crystalline component is consistent with it being highly ordered with the long helical molecular chains aligned parallel to the film-substrate interface plane. The maximum amount of crystalline material occurred when the substrate temperature was close to the melting temperature of the polymer.