Deposition of alumina thin films in the presence of fluorine as a method for reducing thehydrogen incorporation in the films was investigated in this thesis. Hydrogen incorporated in alumina thin films have been shown to cause a lower density and refractive index in amorphous films, assist electrical conduction through thin amorphous films as well as inhibiting the formation of the thermally stable α-phase. The depositions were made in a ultra high vacuum system where high vacuum conditions were simulated by leaking water vapor into the system. No substrate heating or substratebias was applied. Films were deposited at a range of fluorine partial pressures, from 2,5×10-6- 5×10-5 Torr, and were analyzed by elastic recoil detection analysis, nuclear reaction analysis, scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Mass spectrometry measurements were done during the depositions to analyze the deposition process. The mass spectrometry investigations show that there is a trend of increasing O2 partial pressures with increasing fluorine partial pressures during the depositions. This is attributed to the well known reaction: 2H2O+F2→O2+4HF. However, no trend in the measured water partial pressures can be observed. The increase in the O2 partial pressure is therefore attributed to a reaction between water and fluorine on the chamber walls. The chemical analysis show that the hydrogen incorporation in the films were lowered from ~10 at.% when deposited in the presence of water vapor to ~3 at.% when deposited in the presence of water vapor and 2×10-5 Torr fluorine. The hydrogen incorporation stabilize at ~3 at.% at higher fluorine partial pressures. However, there is also a large amount of fluorine incorporated in the films, ~20 at.% with a fluorine partial pressure during the deposition of 2×10-5 Torr and ~46 at.% with a fluorine partial pressure of 5×10-5 Torr. There is a slight increase in the aluminum concentration in the films deposited with fluorine. This is attributed to bonding the hydrogen in aluminum hydroxide while the reminder forms Al2O3 or Al leading to an increase in the aluminum concentration in the film. A linear decrease in the deposition rate with increasing fluorinepartial pressures during the deposition was observed, this can be explained by sputter etching of AlFx and AlOxFy by energetic O- ions. The XRD investigation show that the films deposited with the highest fluorine partial pressures were x-ray amorphous, the films with deposited with lower fluorine partial pressures are therefore also assumed to be amorphous.

Les matériaux utilisés dans le domaine de l’emballage sont parfois revêtus d’une couche barrière afin de réduire les interactions entre le contenant et son contenu. Sur les flacons en verre, le dépôt de ces couches permet de limiter la dégradation de leur surface interne, de réduire le lessivage des cations du verre et d’améliorer la stabilité des propriétés du produit au contact. Dans ce contexte, un procédé de dépôt chimique en phase vapeur (CVD) à partir de tri-isopropoxyde d’aluminium (TIA) par injection liquide directe est mis en œuvre pour appliquer des revêtements d’alumine amorphe sur les parois internes de flacons en verre. Etant donné le nombre important de paramètres expérimentaux et la complexité de la géométrie à revêtir (une cavité avec un seul orifice étroit), le procédé de dépôt est modélisé avec le code de Mécanique des Fluides Numériques Fluent. Le modèle représente les profils locaux de vitesse d’écoulement, de température et de concentration des espèces gazeuses dans l’enceinte réactionnelle, ainsi que les vitesses locales de croissance, s’appuyant sur une loi cinétique hétérogène apparente de décomposition du TIA en alumine. Il permet une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes physico-chimiques se produisant à l’intérieur du corps creux et conduit ainsi à l’amélioration de la configuration du réacteur pour obtenir une couche mince transparente et d’épaisseur relativement uniforme. Le modèle est ensuite utilisé comme guide dans le choix des conditions opératoires pour revêtir la surface interne du flacon à pressions élevées, se rapprochant des conditions de fonctionnement à pression atmosphérique sur les lignes de production industrielle. Une interaction entre expériences et simulations est nécessaire pour adapter la configuration du réacteur aux dépôts à hautes pressions. Des films submicroniques sont déposés à différentes pressions de 666 Pa àt 97,3 kPa, pour un profil prédéterminé de températures le long des parois du flacon comprises entre 480 et 650 °C. Les films obtenus sont amorphes, stœchiométriques, sans traces de carbone et présentent une microstructure dense et légèrement rugueuse. Les flacons revêtus sont soumis à un essai de vieillissement hydrothermal lors d’un cycle de stérilisation pendant une heure à 121 °C et 200 kPa en contact avec de l’eau ultra-pure. La résistance hydrolytique, qui correspond à la résistance du verre à la cession de substances minérales solubles au contact de l’eau est évaluée pour des revêtements de différentes épaisseurs comprises entre 45 et 650 nm en moyenne. Les mécanismes de diffusion et d’extraction des cations sont analysés par spectroscopie de photoélectrons induits par rayons X et spectrométrie par torche plasma. Les effets du vieillissement sur l’adhérence, la nature et la microstructure en surface de la couche d’alumine amorphe sont étudiés. Une synthèse évaluant entre autre la robustesse du procédé, les vitesses de dépôt, les performances barrières et la résistance au vieillissement hydrothermal des couches minces d’alumine, en vis-à-vis des solutions de traitements de surface sur flacon déjà existantes, permet de conclure sur la maturité industrielle et la valeur ajoutée de ce procédé. / Materials for packaging applications are sometimes coated with a barrier film in order to decrease the interactions between the content and the container. Deposition of such coatings on glass bottles allows limiting the deterioration of the internal surface, decreasing the leaching of cations from the glass and improving the stability of the properties of the liquid content. In this context, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process has been designed for the deposition of amorphous alumina thin films on the inner walls of a glass container. The process involves aluminum tri-isopropoxide (ATI), which is fed to the deposition volume by a direct liquid injection (DLI) technology. Given the number of experimental parameters and the complexity of the substrate (a hollow body with a unique narrow entrance), a model of the process has been developed with the Computational Fluid Dynamics code Fluent. The model displays the local profiles of mass flow, temperature and gas species concentrations in the reactor, and the local growth rates based on the kinetic law of the apparent heterogeneous reaction of ATI decomposition to alumina. A good agreement has been found between the experimental and the calculated growth rates. The model allowed gaining a better insight into the physic-chemical phenomena occurring inside the hollow body and thus improving the reactor configuration to obtain transparent and relatively uniform thin films. Following, the model was used as a guide for the choice of the operating conditions of the depositions at higher pressure. An interplay between experimental and simulated results was used to adapt the reactor configuration for depositions at atmospheric pressure. Submicronic films were performed for several pressures between 666 Pa and 97.3 kPa, for thermal profiles along the bottle walls ranging from 753K to 923K. The deposited films are amorphous, stoichiometric without carbon residues, dense and slightly rough. The coated bottles underwent a test of hydrothermal ageing with a cycle of sterilization filled with ultra-pure water during one hour at 121°C and 200 kPa. The hydrolytic resistance, which is the resistance of the glass to the release of soluble mineral substances into water, is measured for films with several thicknesses ranging from 45 to 650 nm on average. The mechanisms of diffusion and extraction for the alkali ions have been analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. The impacts of ageing on the adhesion, the nature and the surface microstructure of the amorphous alumina films have been studied. The robustness of the process, the growth rate, barrier performances and resistance to the hydrothermal ageing of thin films, and the comparison of the above with the scarce existing solutions of surface treatments on glass bottles, allows concluding on the industrial viability and the added value of the process.