Deposition of copper/polymer composite thin film using atmospheric pressure plasma

• A copper/polymer composite thin film is produced with atmospheric pressure plasma • The growth mechanism is discussed and identified as Volmer-Weber type. • The coverage rate of the deposit is studied and optimized. • Composite chemical composition is linked to the plasma decomposition of the precursor The elaboration of polymer/metal composite thin films by plasma polymerization at atmospheric pressure is studied using an organometallic precursor. The first part of this study focuses on the growth of the polymer/metal composite based on the deposition parameters. This section shows that both the exposure time of the substrate to the precursor and the amount of precursor significantly affect thin film growth. The nature of the growth mechanism is then identified. The second part of this work aims to determine the chemical nature of the polymer/metal composite using multi-zone X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. This analysis is employed to assess the homogeneity of the deposit and to compare the atomic composition of the deposit with that of the precursor.