Preparation and characterization of beryllium doped organic plasma polymer coatings

We report the formation of beryllium doped plasma polymerized coatings derived from a helical resonator deposition apparatus, using diethylberyllium as the organometallic source. These coatings had an appearance not unlike plain plasma polymer and were relatively stable to ambient exposure. The coatings were characterized by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Coating rates approaching 0.7 mu m h(-1) were obtained with a beryllium-to-carbon ratio of 1:1.3. There is also a significant oxygen presence in the coating as well which is attributed to oxidation upon exposure of the coating to air. The XPS data show only one peak for beryllium with the preponderance of the XPS data suggesting that the beryllium exists as BeO. Diethylberyllium was found to be inadequate as a source for beryllium doped plasma polymer, due to thermal decomposition and low vapor recovery rates. (C) 1996 American Vacuum Society.