Multilayer barrier stacks and methods of making multilayer barrier stacks

1. A barrier stack made by the process of:

depositing a polymeric decoupling layer on a substrate;

depositing a first inorganic layer on the polymeric decoupling layer under a first set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is less than about 20 eV so that the first inorganic layer is not a barrier layer, wherein a temperature of the substrate is less than about 150° C.; and

depositing a second inorganic layer on the first inorganic layer under a second set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is greater than about 50 eV so that the second inorganic layer is a barrier layer.

2. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the polymeric decoupling layer is selected from acrylates, thiols, epoxies, polyesters, siloxanes, urethanes, or combinations thereof.

3. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the inorganic non-barrier layer or the inorganic barrier layer or both is selected from metals, metal oxides, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal carbonitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal borides, metal oxyborides, metal silicides, or combinations thereof.

4. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the inorganic non-barrier layer or the inorganic barrier layer or both is selected from aluminum oxides, aluminosilicates, silicon oxynitrides, silicon nitrides, silicon oxides, or combinations thereof.

5. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the inorganic non-barrier layer and the inorganic barrier layer are made of different materials.

6. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the substrate includes an environmentally sensitive device thereon.

7. The barrier stack of claim 1 further comprising a composite inorganic barrier layer between the substrate and the barrier stack, the composite inorganic barrier layer comprising an inorganic non-barrier layer on the substrate and an inorganic barrier layer on the inorganic non-barrier layer.

8. The barrier stack of claim 1 wherein the barrier stack has an edge seal.

9. A barrier stack made by the process of:

depositing a polymeric decoupling layer on a substrate;

depositing an inorganic layer on the polymeric decoupling layer at first set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is less than about 20 eV so that a first portion of the inorganic layer adjacent to the polymeric decoupling layer is not a barrier layer, wherein a temperature of the substrate is less than about 150° C., and changing to a second set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is greater than about 50 eV so that a second portion of the inorganic layer is a barrier layer.

10. The barrier stack of claim 9 wherein the polymeric decoupling layer is selected from acrylates, thiols, epoxies, polyesters, siloxanes, urethanes, or combinations thereof.

11. The barrier stack of claim 9 wherein the inorganic non-barrier layer or the inorganic barrier layer or both is selected from metals, metal oxides, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal carbonitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal borides, metal oxyborides, metal silicides, or combinations thereof

12. The barrier stack of claim 9 wherein the substrate includes an environmentally sensitive device thereon.

13. The barrier stack of claim 9 further comprising a composite inorganic barrier layer between the substrate and the barrier stack, the composite inorganic barrier layer comprising an inorganic non-barrier portion on the substrate and a inorganic barrier portion on the inorganic non-barrier portion.

14. The barrier stack of claim 9 wherein the barrier stack has an edge seal.

15. A method of reducing damage to a polymeric decoupling layer in a barrier stack comprising:

depositing the polymeric decoupling layer on a substrate;

depositing a first inorganic layer on the polymeric decoupling layer under a first set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is less than about 20 eV so that the first inorganic layer is not a barrier layer, wherein a temperature of the substrate is less than about 150° C.; and

depositing a second inorganic layer on the first inorganic layer under a second set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is greater than about 50 eV so that the second inorganic layer is a barrier layer.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the first inorganic layer is deposited using a process selected from sputtering, reactive sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, evaporation, sublimation, electron cyclotron resonance-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, or combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the second inorganic layer is deposited using a process selected from sputtering, reactive sputtering, hot wire chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, evaporation, sublimation, electron cyclotron resonance-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, ion assisted physical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, or combinations thereof.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the first inorganic layer is deposited so that the ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is less than about 15 eV.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the first inorganic layer is deposited so that a product of a plasma gas discharge pressure and a target-to-substrate distance is greater than about 80 Pa*mm.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein the first inorganic layer is deposited by sputtering.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein the second inorganic layer is deposited so that the ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is greater than about 70 eV.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein the second inorganic layer is deposited so that a product of a plasma gas discharge pressure and a target-to-substrate distance is less than about 80 Pa*mm.

23. The method of claim 15 wherein the second layer is deposited by sputtering.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein the first and second inorganic layers are made of different materials.

25. The method of claim 15 wherein the substrate includes an environmentally sensitive device thereon.

26. A method of reducing damage to a polymeric decoupling layer in a barrier stack comprising:

depositing the polymeric decoupling layer on a substrate;

depositing an inorganic layer on the decoupling layer at first set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is less than about 20 eV so that a first portion of the inorganic layer adjacent to the polymeric decoupling layer is not a barrier layer, wherein a temperature of the substrate is less than about 150° C., and changing to a second set of conditions wherein an ion and neutral energy arriving at the substrate is greater than about 50 eV so that a second portion of the inorganic layer is a barrier layer.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the inorganic layer is sputter deposited, and wherein at the first set of conditions a product of a plasma gas discharge pressure and a target-to-substrate distance is greater than about 100 Pa*mm and wherein at the second set of conditions a product of a plasma gas discharge pressure and a target-to-substrate distance is less than about 75 Pa*mm.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the substrate includes an environmentally sensitive device thereon.

29. A method of reducing damage to a polymeric decoupling layer in a barrier stack comprising:

depositing the polymeric decoupling layer on a substrate;

placing a screen between a target and the substrate;

plasma depositing a first inorganic layer on the polymeric decoupling layer under conditions so that the first inorganic layer is not a barrier layer; and

plasma depositing a second inorganic layer on the first inorganic layer so that the second inorganic layer is a barrier layer.