Plasma Oxidation Printing into DLC and Graphite for Surface Functionalization

Abstract

A diamond-like carbon (DLC) film, coated on a AISI420-J2 stainless steel substrate and vertically aligned graphite (VAG), was structured by high-density plasma oxidation to work as a DLC-punch for micro-stamping and DLC-nozzle array for micro-dispensing, in addition to acting as a copper-plated thermal spreader, respectively. Thick DLC films were micro-patterned by maskless lithography and directly plasma-etched to remove the unmasked regions. Thick VAG (Ca plates were micro-patterned by screen-printing and selectively etched to activate the surface. Raman spectroscopy as well as electric resistivity measurement proved that there was no degradation of VAG by this surface activation. Wet plating was utilized to prove that copper wettability was improved by this surface treatment.