Microstructural characterisation of transparent barrier layers on polyethylene terephthalate.

Thin transparent SiOx layers deposited on polyester substrates have been characterised using a variety of analytical techniques in order to correlate the microstructure with the barrier performance. For barrier layers free of macro-scale defects a structural model as been proposed that describes the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Henry, B, Grovenor, C, Roberts, A, Norenberg, H, Sutton, A, Briggs, G, Tsukahara, Y, Miyamoto, T
Format: Conference item
Published: 1998
Description
Summary:Thin transparent SiOx layers deposited on polyester substrates have been characterised using a variety of analytical techniques in order to correlate the microstructure with the barrier performance. For barrier layers free of macro-scale defects a structural model as been proposed that describes the SiOx layer as a dense network with a pore size distribution of 2.7 to 4 Angstrom. In films adversely affected by macroscopic cracks, a new theoretical model has been shown to account accurately for permeation through SiOx layers containing these defects.