APPLICATION OF CHEMICAL SURFACE-ANALYSIS TO THE STUDY OF ADHESION OF THIN-FILMS AND THEIR INTERFACES

Thin SiOx (1.4 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 2) films of 100 nm thickness have been reactively deposited by magnetron sputte ring on thin 500 mu m PET (Polyethylen Terephtalate) substrates with/w ithout N-2 plasma treatment XPS depth profiles and scratch tests are p erformed. Results show that stoichiometry and pretreatment can be corr elated to the critical force F-n,F-c for which de-adhesion occurs duri ng the scratch test A higher F-n,F-c corresponds to an improved adhesi on. One observes that F-n,F-c increases after the N-2 plasma treatment . but decreases with increasing O/Si ratio.