Study of the effect of chopping on the adhesion of codeposited mixed thin films

Abstract

This paper reports adhesion of codeposited mixed films of Cu-Ag, Cu-Al, MgF2-ZnS and MgF2-cryolite and enhancement of adhesion by chopping technique. Results indicate that codeposited mixed films show higher adhesion than single films and chopping improves the adhesion further. The quenching of crystal growth seems to be more effective if two materials are codeposited and chopped. Chopping along with mixing increases the number of nucleation sites and decreases defects in the film. Decreasing defects and modifying the microstructure increases the adhesion of the films. Chopping also seems to increase oxygen affinity of both metallic and dielectric films for growth of interfacial bonding layer. © 1995 the Indian Academy of Sciences.