Metal Atom Desorption from Organofluorine Surfaces: What Factors Govern Desorption?

Abstract Metal pattern formation using vacuum evaporation is an essential technology in various fields such as electronics, photonics, and industrial mass production. An application of selective metal deposition, in which a metal pattern can be prepared by maskless vacuum evaporation, based on the phenomenon of metal atom desorption from the organic surface, is expected as a promising method. However, the surface physical properties that govern the desorption of metals have not been fully clarified. In this study, the metal desorption phenomenon in various organofluorine films with a low surface energy is investigated in detail, and the factors governing the desorption are clarified. It is revealed that metal desorption requires not a low total surface energy but rather the London dispersion component of surface energy as small as 20 mJ m⁻², and, moreover, that the surface should have fluidity or high molecular mobility. As typical materials having such physical properties, commercially available mold release agents show efficient desorption with respect to many metals having a low intrinsic vapor pressure such as Au, Ag, Cr, and In. Furthermore, 3D integrated deposition is performed as a demonstration of efficient metal desorption. This highly efficient metal desorption phenomenon is applicable to various fields including electronics.