A one-step, tunable method of selective reactive sputter deposition as a wrinkling approach for silver/polydimethylsiloxane for electrically conductive pliable surfaces.

ABSTRACT: The wrinkle period and morphology of a metal thin film on an elastic substrate is typically controlled by modifying the substrate before carrying out additional metal deposition steps. Herein, we show that a simultaneously selective and reactive sputtering plasma that modifies the surface of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate while not reacting with the metal during the deposition process decreases the wrinkle wavelength and induces additional wrinkling components and features such as ripples or folds. The selective reaction of the nitrogen plasma with PDMS functionalizes the siloxane surface into silicon oxynitride. This hardens the immediate surface of PDMS, with a quadratic increase in the Young's modulus as a function of the sputtering flow ratio. The increase in the critical stra

SUBMITTER: Loh JYY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9360048 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature