Growth Mechanism, Kinetics, and Molecular Weight

This chapter reviews the body of literature studying the growth behavior and kinetics of polymer chemical vapor deposition (CVD), specifically of initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). It first describes the general processing scheme of iCVD to highlight the features of this polymer CVD approach. The iCVD process in general involves many components expected of any CVD process: precursor selection, vapor delivery, reaction chamber, temperature control, pressure control, exhaust management, vacuum pump system, and process monitoring and other peripherals. The chapter then discusses the kinetic and transport phenomena and growth mechanism related to the iCVD process, particularly by detailing the growth behavior of several major classes of polymer chemistries, including fluorocarbon, organosilicon, acrylate and methacry-late, vinyl, and ring-opened polymers. It concludes by emphasizing the value of processing knowledge in effecting the structure and properties of resulting materials and devices.