High-molecular-weight organic compounds (hereinafter designated simply as polymers) are widely used in the manufacture of miniature capacitors because of their excellent dielectric characteristics and suitability for molding and processing. These capacitors frequently use thin-film dielectrics made of polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate stretched films. On the other hand, examples of manufacturing techniques for making thin films of these materials for application in the field of microelectronics have been rare, and it appears that none has been developed to the stage of practical application. Polymers are essentially nonvolatile, and since they thermally decompose at a comparatively low temperature, existing thin-film techniques, which have been concerned mostly with inorganic materials, can not be readily applied. However, if appropriate thin-film fabrication techniques could be developed, the noncrystalline nature of these materials (and their basic long linear molecular structure that may be cross-linked) is considered extremely suitable for achieving excellent thin-film dielectric formations having few structural defects. A processing method has been developed for directly polymerizing and growing thin-film polymers on substrates by plasma reaction in a monomer atmosphere. Good results have already been realized in the production of thin-film cpacitors. In this paper, an outline of a new process for manufacturing thin-film polymers, and the characteristics of thin-film organic dielectrics made by this process, are presented. © 1969, IEEE. All rights reserved.
