The Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Nitride and Alumina by 1 Kev Ar+ Ion Irradiation in Reactive Gas Environment

Abstract

AbstractAr ions with 1 keV energy was irradiated on aluminum nitride in an O2 environment to increase the bonding strength with Cu and also on alumina in an N2 environment to increase the bending strength. Cu(1000 Å) films were deposited by ion-beam sputter on Ar+ irradiated/unirradiated A1N surfaces and the change of the bond strength was investigated by a scratch test. For the study of chemical structural change on the Ar+ irradiated A1N surface, Cu(50Å) were deposited on an A1N substrate and XPS depth profile analysis was performed. Cu films deposited on Ar+ irradiated A1N under an O2 environment showed the bond strength of 30 Newton by a scratch test. On the basis of Cu3p, A12p near core levels and OI s, N1 s core level spectra, it was found that the improvement of bond strength of Cu films on the AlN surface resulted from the formation of intermediate layers such as copper oxide and aluminum oxynitride. The bending strength of polycrystalline alumina irradiated by Ar ions in an N2 environment was also increased.