Localized material growth by a dielectric barrier discharge

In this paper, we have reported a localized material growth method by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in a mixture of acetylene and argon. We found that, in the discharge, plasma polymerization takes place and the material growth rate is much higher along the discharge filaments than it is in other locations. Three layers of material, which correspond to three modes of discharge, are observed after the plasma polymerization. One layer is homogeneous, which corresponds to a glow-like discharge. The second layer is made of small and dense columns, which can be seen only under microscope, and this layer of material's growth corresponds to a corona-like discharge. The third layer is made of a few bigger columns, which can be seen visually, and they are grown along patterned discharge streamers. By scanning electron microscope (SEM), we see that the bigger columns are made of small ball-like material with the diameter of approximately 0.1 mum. A Fourrier transfer infra-red (FTIR) spectrum of the deposited material is also shown to confirm the polymerization. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.