Deposition of functional membranes by through-substrate plane-plate dielectric-barrier discharge

A novel roll-to-roll deposition method, namely, "through-substrate plane-plate dielectric-barrier discharge," was developed. This method uses a dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma plate, which has antenna and ground lines in a dielectric material, as an electrode. A film substrate was placed on the electrode so that an electric field, which passes through the substrate, generates a plasma above surface of the substrate. This method can avoid unexpected deposition on the electrode, which causes dust-particle contamination. In a preliminary experiment, deposition rates of Si, SiN, and Diamond-Like-Carbon were about 1, 1.5 and 5 μm/min, respectively. When there was a space between the plasma plate and the substrate film, plasma was generated on the back side of the substrate film, and then the deposition on the surface of the substrate film was prevented. This back-side discharge was suppressed by supplying nitrogen gas to the back-side of the substrate film.