General Electric Company

Richard J Hill

Robert E Belke, Jr

Raymond A Shirk

David P Smith

The invention deals with a method of electroding a poly(vinylidene fluoride) solid in a piezoelectric application. The electroding method entails surface preparation of the poly(vinylidene fluoride) by a variety of steps including plasma etching to create temporary molecular scale surface irregularities followed by sputtering a metallic layer before deterioration of the plasma etched surface. The chromium may be the initial metal sputtered, followed by a sputtered copper layer, followed in turn by at least one heavier electrodeposited conductive layer. The method may be conducted without deterioration of the piezoelectric properties of the material. The method has been found to provide very good adhesion between the electrode and the PVF.sub.2 surface.

Growing community of inventors

N. Syracuse, NY, United States of America

Richard J Hill