Plasma

The Plasma processing group of IPR has developed a technique to deposit silicon dioxide films on brassware using the technique of plasma polymerization of organosilicon monomers using radio frequency discharge plasma. The work piece is kept inside a vacuum chamber and suitable mixtures of gases are introduced into the chamber. A radio frequency power source generates plasma in the vicinity of the work piece. The plasma dissociates the monomer as well as other oxygen which reacts near the surface and gets deposited by condensation. Appropriate pre-treatment of the surface before deposition and post deposition treatment renders the silicon dioxide coating hard, pin-hole free and transparent with necessary adhesion. The present process is done in batches and takes approximately three hours which includes pump down and pretreatment phases.