Experiment setup consists of two furnaces and a vacuum chamber, where deposition occurs in a nitrogen atmosphere. In deposition, the precursor di-p-xylylene is heated until it undergoes pyrolysis; this produces the monomer p-xylylene, which spontaneously polymerizes when exposed to the substrate.
Work to date includes the setup and calibration of the PA-N reactor deposition system; tests have been conducted to determine the dependence of substrate temperature on the current applied across a thermoelectric cooling device. Current experiments are designed to quantify the effect of substrate cooling on the rate of polymer deposition; future tests will examine the effects of pressure and a catalyst on the deposition system.
Responses to: Prof. T.-M. Lu