Parylene C

Parylene C, a chlorinated poly(para-xylylene) polymer, is widely employed as a biocompatible, corrosion-resistant coating, as a packaging material, and as an optically transparent material. Parylene conformal coatings are ultra-thin, pinhole-free polymer coatings that provide a number of high-value surface treatment properties such as excellent moisture, chemical and dielectric barrier properties, thermal and UV stability, and dry-film lubricity. These properties make Parylene coatings the ideal choice for a number of applications throughout the medical device, electronics, transportation, defense and aerospace industries.

Equipment

Parylene is deposited in the SCS PDS 2035 CR

Main article: SCS PDS 2035CR

Processing Notes

• Parylene deposition

• Parylene films have very low surface energy, which gives them excellent lubricant properties, and bad adhesion properties. To improve adhesion and hydrophilicity reseachers use plasma activation

a)Schematic that shows the static contact angles b) Photograph of a water droplet on a Parylene C film

• Room temperature formation means the coatings are effectively stress-free
• Parylene is chemically and biologically inert and stable and make excellent barrier material.
• Parylene has excellent electrical properties: low dielectric constant and loss with good high-frequency properties; good dielectric strength; and high bulk and surface resistance.
• Parylene has good thermal endurance: Parylene C performs in air without significant loss of physical properties for 10 years at 80°C and in the absence of oxygen to temperatures in excess of 200°C.
• Parylene is optically transparent and can be used to coat optical elements.
• FDA approved material
• Parylene coating has excellent mechanical properties, including high tensile strength.
• Parylene is stable over a very wide temperature range (-200 ‘C to +200 ‘C), allowing the chamber items coated in Parylene to be put in an autoclave
• Parylene is unaffected by solvents

Processing Equipment

Deposition

• SCS_PDS_2035CR

Etching

Similar to other polymers, parylene can be etched isotropically with an O₂ plasma.

• Plasmatherm 790
  • m_pary1
  • L_O2_DSM
• LAM 9400
  • mnf_parylene_fast_iso
  • mnf_parylene_slow_iso
  • rh_parylene
• STS Glass Etcher
• YES Plasma Stripper
• Deep UV SenLights PL16

Technical data

For complete information on Parylene C physical properties see: Parylene C TDS

Parylene C thin film FTIR Spectrum from reference above.