Self-organization of SiO2 nanodots deposited by chemical vapor deposition using an atmospheric pressure remote microplasma

Abstract

Self-organization of SiO2 nanodots is obtained by chemical vapor deposition out of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and atmospheric pressure remote Ar–O2 plasma operating at high temperature (1200–1600 K). The dewetting of the film being deposited when it is still thin enough (<500 nm) is found to be partly responsible for this self-organization. When the coating becomes thicker (∼1 μm), and for relatively high contents in HMDSO, SiO2 walls forming hexagonal cells are obtained on a SiO2 sublayer. For thicker coatings (>1 μm), droplet-shaped coatings with a Gaussian distribution in thickness over their width are deposited. The coatings are submitted to high compressive stress. When it is relaxed, “nestlike structures” made of nanoribbons are synthesized.