Modeling and measurement of monomer pressure evolution in an inductively coupled pulsed plasma reactor for thin polymer films

A model has been developed to predict the evolution of monomer pressure over time in an inductively coupled plasma reactor. The model uses an analogous electrical circuit to predict preplasma gas flow conditions. Based on the monomer pressure model, a relationship between pressure prior to electrical discharge and the corresponding plasma polymerized acetylene deposition rate was measured experimentally. A plot of measured deposition rate versus preplasma monomer pressure was observed to have a relative maximum.