Abstract
For the application of ion-plating to components for telecommunication and semiconductor devices, it is essential for ion-plated films to have high purity and proper adherence to substrates. To satisfy these requirements, silver films were ion-plated on copper, permalloy, and vicalloy substrates under an Ar gas pressure which was an order of magnitude lower than that used for the conventional ion-plating. The chemical composition, morphology, microstructure, and internal stress in ion-plated and RF ion-plated films were investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, in comparison with those in the vacuum evaporated ones. Auger electron spectoscopy revealed that both ion-plated and RF ion-plated films were of high purity. The cross-sectional morphology and microstructure became more coaxial and smaller with increasing impinging ions; that is, coaxial grains were observed in the RF ion-plated films, and columnar ones in the vacuum-evaporated films. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that both the internal stress in the ion-plated and RF ion-plated films were greater than those in the vacuum-evaporated ones.
The internal stresses nearly correspond to the Vickers hardness values of the ion-plated films. Furthermore, the adhesion charasteristics for the sliding motion were investigated by the apparatus designed for this purpose. Silver films ion-plated on vicalloy were smaller in adhesion cofficient than the cold worked bulk materials and elctro-plated films.
