Organically modified SiO2 coatings on polycarbonate

Improvements of the environmental stability of inorganic optical coatings on polymer substrates are expected from a slight variation of the chemical composition of SiO2 films by organic modification through the addition of gaseous hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) to a classical plasma ion-assisted deposition process. The influence of several process parameters on the chemical composition of these coatings has been studied on polycarbonate, quartz glass and silicon substrates to define an optimum range of process parameters with regard to the useful properties obtained of the coated polymer optical component.