Argon ion treatment of the Dow Cyclotene 3022 surface and its effect on the adhesion of evaporated copper

Cyclotene 3022, a low permittivity insulator was subjected to Ar‡ surface treatment in an effort to increase the adhesion of subsequently evaporated Cu. Photoacoustic FTIR shows the loss of aromaticity and the formation of Si±Hn, where n ˆ 2, 3. XPS evidence suggests that beam damage causes the formation of ±Si±O and ±Si , as well as ±C fragments; both ±Si±O and ±C react with evaporated Cu0 to form ±Si±O±Cu and ±C±Cu; these bonds to Cu are too weak to prevent lateral surface diffusion of the Cu to form clusters. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.