Abstract
Adhesion characteristics of Cu/C:H films on the polyethylene terepht halate(PET) were investigated with special attention to pretreatment methods. The Cu/C:H film was prepared by ECR-MOCVD at room temperature. PET substrates were subjected to industrially feasible pretreatments such as Ar ion implantation, O2 plasma, chromo-sulfuric acid, and sandblasting. Surface topography and roughness before and after deposition of pretreated samples were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The measurements of the adhesive force between the film and substrate were carried out with a pull-off test by using an Instron® and the surface energy was calculated by the contact angle measurement. Our experimental results showed that adhesion of deposited films mostly depended on the surface roughness of PET substrate before the deposition. Therefore, we can construe that chemical and mechanical pretreatment are efficient ways for the deposition of Cu/C:H film on PET substrate. In the case of chromo-sulfuric acid pretreatment, the surface roughness increased initially and then decreased after passing a maximum, with the increase of the acid soaking time. Cu/C:H film with good adhesion characteristics could be obtained at maximum value of surface roughness and surface energy.
