Nylon-6 based nanocomposite films for capacitor applications

Nylon-6 and Al based nanocomposite films were fabricated via a scalable vacuum co-deposition technique. The relative deposition rates of the constituent phases — nylon-6 (matrix) and Al (filler) — were varied systematically to yield films of different compositions and their dielectric properties, particularly the measured dielectric constants k, were compared with predictions of effective medium expressions. The effect of absorbed water, temperature and heat treatment on k of the nano-films were studied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the presence of an Al-based oxide, which was correlated to the observed enhancement in the dielectric properties of the nanocomposites. The effect of the relative deposition rates of the constituent phases on k and the chemistry of the deposited films fabricated via co-deposition was studied and explained using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results.