Molecular Structures and Tribological Properties of Sputtered Poly(fluorocarbon) Thin Films
Satoru IWAMORI, Kazuya KEDUKA and Akihiro UEMURA
Abstract:Polymer thin films sputtered onto glass slide and copper substrates with argon (Ar) and tetrafluoromethane (CF4) using poly(tetrafuruoroethylene)(PTFE), poly(vinylidenfluoride)(PVDF) and poly(ethylene)(PE) targets were characterized and evaluated their tribological properties. The polymer thin film sputtered with Ar using PVDF target contained only a few fluorine atoms. The fluorine contents of the polymer thin films sputtered with CF4 used with PVDF and PE targets increased, and chemical structures of these polymer thin films were almost the same as that using the PTFE target. Friction coefficients of these sputtered polymer thin films showed higher value than those of the pristine PTFE and PE. Wear durability of these fluorine thin films decreased with increase of fluorine contents in the thin films. Key Words:PTFE, PVDF, PE, CF4CSputtering, Friction coefficient, Wear durability