Hydrogenated amorphous carbon film coating of PET bottles for gas diffusion barriers

Naima Boutroy (1) , Yann Pernel , J. M. Rius , Florence Auger , Jurgen von Bardeleben (2) , Jean-Louis Cantin (2) , François Abel (2) , Andreas Zeinert (3) , C. Casiraghi (4) , A. C. Ferrari (5, 6, 4) , J. Robertson (4)

1 Sidel
2 INSP - Institut des Nanosciences de Paris
3 LPMC - Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée - UR UPJV 2081
4 Engineering Department
5 CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research
6 PARADES E.E.I.G.

The addition of a gas-impermeable coating on the inside wall of a standard polyethylene tereplithalate (PET) bottle has long been considered as a way to improve the packaging for beer, juice and carbonated soft drinks. We have developed a plasma-assisted deposition process suitable for the deposition of 100 nm thick, transparent, hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films on PET surfaces. The Sidel plasma technology uses an acetylene gas precursor and a microwave plasma, which allows us to obtain a high deposition rate of 60 nm/s necessary for industrial process flows. The a-C:H films provide a 50-fold reduction of the permeation rates Of O-2 . The composition, optical, structural and defect properties of the a-C:H films were characterized by Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS), Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), optical spectroscopy, Raman and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: diamond-like carbon; gas permeation; structure; optical gap

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

Naima Boutroy, Yann Pernel, J. M. Rius, Florence Auger, Jurgen von Bardeleben, et al.. Hydrogenated amorphous carbon film coating of PET bottles for gas diffusion barriers. Diamond and Related Materials, 2006, 15 (4-8, SI), pp.921-927. ⟨10.1016/j.diamond.2005.10.049⟩. ⟨hal-01288828⟩