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Ductile film delamination from compliant substrates using hard overlayers
M J Cordill1, V M Marx2, C Kirchlechner2
1Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria.
Thin Solid Films
|February 3, 2015
Summary
A new method measures how well copper films stick to flexible polyimide substrates. This technique uses controlled buckling to assess adhesion, aiding the development of better flexible electronics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Science
- Mechanical Engineering
Background:
- Flexible electronic devices require strong adhesion between metal films (copper, gold) and polymer substrates.
- Accurate measurement of interfacial adhesion is crucial but challenging for these material systems.
- Existing techniques often require complex setups or specific models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel strategy for measuring the interfacial adhesion of copper films on polyimide substrates.
- To enable the examination of adhesion layer effects in flexible electronic systems.
- To provide a reliable method for quantifying adhesion in challenging material interfaces.
Main Methods:
- Inducing well-defined areas of delamination using a stressed overlayer.
- Employing tensile straining to initiate buckle formation at the interface.
- Quantifying adhesion based on the observed delamination patterns and applied stress.
Main Results:
- Successfully demonstrated a technique to create controlled delamination zones.
- Provided a quantitative measure of copper-polyimide interfacial adhesion.
- Showcased the method's ability to evaluate the impact of adhesion layers.
Conclusions:
- The presented buckle-based delamination method offers a robust approach to measure interfacial adhesion.
- This technique is valuable for optimizing adhesion in flexible electronic device fabrication.
- The strategy facilitates the study of thin adhesion layers critical for flexible system performance.
