Coated substrates and methods for their preparation

1. A coated substrate, comprising:

a substrate; and

a barrier layer on the substrate, wherein the barrier layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of at least 1.6 g/cm 3 and a formula Si m O n C p H q wherein m has a value of from 10 to 33 atomic %, n has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, p has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, q has a value of from 0.1 to 60 atomic %, and m+n+p+q=100 atomic %, further comprising a buffer layer on the barrier layer, wherein the buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 .

2. The coated substrate according to claim 1 , further comprising at least two alternating buffer and barrier layers, on the barrier layer, wherein each alternating buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 and each alternating barrier layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of at least 1.6 g/cm 3 and a formula Si m O n C p H q wherein m has a value of from 10 to 33 atomic %, n has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, p has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, q has a value of from 0.1 to 60 atomic %, and m+n+p+q=100 atomic %.

3. A method of preparing a coated substrate according to claim 1 , the method comprising:

introducing a reactive gas mixture comprising a silicon-containing compound, argon, and oxygen into a deposition chamber containing a substrate, wherein the silicon-containing compound is selected from at least one silane, at least one siloxane, and a mixture thereof, a ratio of a flow rate of the argon to a flow rate of the silicon-containing compound is from 10 to 30, a ratio of a flow rate of the oxygen to a flow rate of the silicon-containing compound is from 0.15 to 1.0, a substrate temperature is from 20 to 80° C., and a pressure is from 1.33 to 60 Pa;

applying an RF power to the gas mixture to generate a plasma, wherein the RF power is from 300 to 1000 W; and

applying an LF power to the substrate, wherein the LF power is from 50 to 120 W, to deposit a barrier layer comprising hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of at least 1.6 g/cm 3 on the substrate.

4. A coated substrate, comprising:

a substrate;

a buffer layer on the substrate, wherein the buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 ; and

a barrier layer on the buffer layer, wherein the barrier layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of at least 1.6 g/cm 3 and a formula Si m O n C p H q wherein m has a value of from 10 to 33 atomic %, n has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, p has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, q has a value of from 0.1 to 60 atomic %, and m+n+p+q=100 atomic %.

5. The coated substrate according to claim 4 , further comprising an additional buffer layer on the barrier layer, wherein the additional buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 .

6. The coated substrate according to claim 4 , further comprising at least two alternating buffer and barrier layers, on the barrier layer, wherein each alternating buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 and each alternating barrier layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of least 1.6 g/cm 3 and a formula Si m O n C p H q wherein m has a value of from 10 to 33 atomic %, n has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, p has a value of from 1 to 66 atomic %, q has a value of from 0.1 to 60 atomic %, and m+n+p+q=100 atomic %.

7. A method of preparing a coated substrate according to claim 4 , the method comprising:

depositing a buffer layer on a substrate, wherein the buffer layer comprises hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density less than 1.6 g/cm 3 ;

introducing a reactive gas mixture comprising a silicon-containing compound, argon, and oxygen into a deposition chamber containing the substrate having the buffer layer, wherein the silicon-containing compound is selected from at least one silane, at least one siloxane, and a mixture thereof, the ratio of a flow rate of a argon to the flow rate of a silicon-containing compound is from 10 to 30, a ratio of a flow rate of the oxygen to a flow rate of the silicon-containing compound is from 0.15 to 1.0, a substrate temperature is from 20 to 80° C., and a pressure is from 1.33 to 60 Pa;

applying a RF power to the gas mixture to generate a plasma, wherein the RF power is from 300 to 1000 W; and

applying an LF power to the substrate, wherein the LF power is from 50 to 120 W, to deposit a barrier layer comprising hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide having a density of at least 1.6 g/cm 3 on the buffer layer.