Polymer—metal composite films have been deposited in glow discharge plasmas of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) and argon in a planar magnetron system with a copper cathode. Actinometric optical emission spectroscopy was used to identify the chemical species in the discharge and the trends in their concentrations as a function of the discharge parameters (total pressure of the mixture HMDS-Ar, proportion of HMDS and Ar in the gas feed and cathode voltage). The relative contributions of gas—phase reactions and cathode sputtering to the plasma composition are discussed. The structure of the films was investigated by transinission electron microscopy. Residual stress measurements were also performed in the films using the bending beam method. The correlation between the discharge parameters and the film microstructure and composition is examined.
