Pulsed-laser deposition of polytetrafluoroethylene

Thin films of polytetrafluoroethylene have been deposited on amorphous substrates by the pulsed-laser deposition technique. By transmission electron microscopy, the polymer films were shown to consist of both amorphous and crystalline components. The data for the crystalline component are consistent with it being highly ordered with the long helical molecular chains aligned parallel to the film substrate interface plane. The fraction of crystalline material in the films was found to be related to the substrate temperature during deposition with the maximum amount of crystalline material occurring when the substrate temperature was close to the melting temperature of the polymer.