Open-Air Plasma-Deposited Multilayer Thin-Film Moisture Barriers

Emerging moisture sensitive devices require robust encapsulation strategies to inhibit water ingress and prevent premature failure. A scalable, open-air plasma process has been developed to deposit alternating layers of conformal organosilicate and dense SiO₂ thin-film barriers to prevent moisture ingress. The in situ low-temperature process is suitable for direct deposition on thermally sensitive devices and is compatible with flexible polymeric substrates. Using optical calcium testing, low water vapor transmission rates on the order of 10^-3 g/m²/day at an accelerated aging condition of 38 °C and 90% relative humidity (RH) are achieved. Using moisture-sensitive perovskite devices as a representative moisture-susceptible device, devices retain over 80% of their initial performance for over 660 h in a 50 °C 50% RH accelerated aging environment. The ability of the multilayer barrier to enable device resistance to humid environments is crucial toward realizing longer operating lifetimes.