Nitrogen plasma modification on polyimide films for copper metallization on microelectronic flex substrates

Abstract Surface modification of polyimide films Kapton E(N) and Upilex S by nitrogen plasmas were investigated for their enhanced adhesion strength with sputtered coppers. Peel tests demonstrate this improvement, with peel strengths of 7 and 12 N/m for unmodified Kapton E(N) and Upilex S, and 1522 and 1401 N/m for nitrogen plasma‐modified Kapton E(N) and Upilex S at certain plasma conditions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the sessile drop method indicated the surface roughness, and the surface energy of polyimide films were highly increased by nitrogen plasmas. This study shows the enhanced adhesion strengths of polyimide films with sputtered coppers by nitrogen plasmas, and these nitrogen plasmas were strongly affected by the surface characteristics of polyimide films. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) observed the increased surface energy on polyimide films by nitrogen plasmas was due to the increased surface composition of O and the increased chemical bond of CO. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2023–2038, 2005