Inorganic graded barrier film and methods for their manufacture

1. A graded barrier film comprising a layered structure, wherein said layered structure comprises:

a first layer comprising a metal oxide or metal nitride;

a second intermediate layer comprising alternating layers of a metal nitride and metal oxynitride or alternating layers of a metal oxide and metal oxynitride which is arranged on said first layer; and

a third layer comprising a metal oxide or metal nitride, which is arranged on said second intermediate layer;

wherein the first layer and the third layer has a thickness up to 60 nm;

wherein the metal oxide, metal nitride and metal oxynitride comprise a metal which is reactive towards moisture and/or oxygen;

wherein the vapor permeation rate of the graded barrier film is 10 −2 g/m 2 /day or less at 60° C. and 90% relative humidity; and

wherein the metal of the metal oxide, metal nitride and metal oxynitride is the same.

2. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the second intermediate layer has a thickness of at least 1 nm to 20 nm.

3. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the first layer has a thickness of about 50 nm to about 60 nm.

4. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the third layer has a thickness of about 50 nm to about 60 nm.

5. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the entire graded barrier film has a thickness between about 50 nm to about 1 μm, or about 50 nm to about 500 nm, or about 50 nm to about 300 nm, or about 50 nm to about 200 nm, or about 50 nm to about 100 nm.

6. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein said graded barrier film is arranged on a substrate.

7. The graded barrier film of claim 6 , wherein said graded barrier film is arranged on opposing sides of said substrate.

8. The graded barrier film of claim 6 , wherein said substrate is an organic polymer or an inorganic polymer or a mixture thereof.

9. The graded barrier film of claim 8 , wherein said organic polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyacetate, polypropylene, cellophane, poly(l-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne, poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(4-methyl-2-pentyne), polyimide, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene, polyethersulfone, epoxy resins, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyacrylate, polyacrylamide, polydimethylphenylene oxide, styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), nylon, nitrocellulose, cellulose and acetate.

10. The graded barrier film of claim 8 , wherein said inorganic polymer is selected from the group consisting of silica (glass), nano-clays, silicones, polydimethylsiloxanes, biscyclopentadienyl iron, indium tin oxide, polyphosphazenes and derivatives thereof.

11. The graded barrier film of claim 8 , wherein said polymers are transparent or semi-transparent or opaque.

12. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the metal used in said layers is selected from the group consisting of metals from periodic groups 2 to 14 or wherein metal used in said layers is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gallium, indium, indium-doped tin, thallium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, molybdenum, chromium, tungsten, zinc, silicon, germanium, tin, barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, tantalum, yttrium and vanadium.

13. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein said graded barrier film comprises multiple layers; wherein a metal oxide layer is always followed by an intermediate layer comprising a metal nitride layer or metal oxynitride layer which is arranged on said metal oxide layer.

14. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein an additional film is arranged on said graded barrier film, wherein said additional film is selected from the group consisting of a UV neutralizing film, a zinc oxide layer, a protective layer and a barrier film.

15. The graded barrier film according to claim 14 , wherein said additional film is arranged only on one side of said graded barrier film or on both sides.

16. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the vapor permeation rate of the graded barrier film is between about 1×10 −2 g/m 2 /day and 1×10 −3 g/m 2 /day at 60° C. and 90% relative humidity.

17. The graded barrier film of claim 1 , wherein the first layer and the third layer has a thickness of 1 nm to 60 nm.

18. A method of manufacturing a graded barrier film according to claim 1 by carrying out multiple times of a single deposition cycle using sputtering technology, wherein said method comprises:

depositing at least one monolayer of metal on a substrate;

feeding oxygen with a working gas for anodizing said metal layer to form the first layer;

depositing at least one monolayer of metal on the first layer; and

feeding nitrogen with a working gas or feeding a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen with a working gas for anodizing said metal layer to form the second layer.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said sputtering technology is magnetron sputtering or radio frequency (RF) sputtering or direct current (DC) sputtering.