Thermally-Induced Atomic Mixing at the Interface of Cu and Polyimide

Rate of mixing of Cu particles to polyimide substrate at interfaces under different thermal treatments was analyzed by Rutherford Backscattering spectroscopy using 2.0 MeV He+ ions. T he mixing rate was a function of annealing temperature and time and was constant at afioxed temperature. The amount of mixing increased linearly with time and the mixing rate increased with temperature. The activation energy for interface mixing between Cu and polyimide was 2.6 kcal/mol. The X-ray studies showed the Cu(111) plane peak changed with annealing time at fixed temperature. The mixing of Cu to polyimide was explained with segmental motion of PI chain and with interaction between functional group of the chain and metal electron donor. The comparisons were made bewteen the mixing induced by ion irradiation and by thermal treatment. The various factors affecting the interface mixing are discussed.