Patterned discharges for material localized treatment in dielectric barrier discharge with modulated gas gap

Eight kinds of patterned discharges are obtained by changing the discharge parameters in a dielectric barrier discharge with modulated gas gaps, which are applicable to materials patterned treatment. A square superlattice pattern consisting of two dot sublattices and one ring sublattice is studied and used to treat a PI film. The formation mechanism is studied by intensified charge coupled device. The spatial distribution of the plasma parameters is measured using optical emission spectra. The gas temperatures as well as the electron densities of the three sublattices are significantly different from each other. The physical and chemical properties of the treated film are measured using a surface profiler, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope. The transmissivity, wettability, and etching depth of the treated PI film demonstrate square superlattice pattern distribution, which verifies the predictions based on plasma parameter measurements. The dielectric barrier discharge device reported here is also applicable to materials' patterned growth.