Polyimide surface study

Laery, H.J. Campbell, D.S. "ESCA Studies of Polyimide and Modified Polyimide Surfaces" Photon. Electron, and Ion Probes ACS Washington, DC, 1981. 

Previous studies have shown that a trend exists in the behavior of some evaporated metals on polyimide surfaces x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron (XPS, UPS) as well as high resolution electron energy loss (HREELS) measurements have indicated that while for some metals such as aluminum, titanium and chromium there is bond formation with the PMDA carbonyl oxygen of the polyimide (2, 10-13). other metals such as copper, palladium and gold undergo little reaction or interaction (10,12,14,15). It has, however, since been postulated that metals, in order to adhere well at all to a polymer under a wide variety of conditions, must form metal- polymer bonds (10). 

ESCA Studies of Polyimide and Modified Polyimide Surfaces... 

The surface chemical structure of several thin polyimide films formed by curing of polyamic acid resins was studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA or XPS). The surface modifications of one of the polymer systems after exposure to KOH, after exposure to temperature and humidity, after exposure to boiling water, and after exposure to O2 and 02/CF plasmas were also evaluated. The results showed imide bond formation for all cured polyimide systems. It was found that (a) K on the surface of the polyamic acid alters the "normal" imidization process, (b) cured polyimide surfaces are not invarient after T H and boiling water exposures, and (c) extensive modifications of cured polyimide surfaces occur after exposures to plasma environments. Very complex surfaces for these polymer films were illustrated by the C Is, 0 Is, N Is and F Is line characteristics. 

A carehil study at other aluminum coverages, including angular dependence analysis of the HREELS recira, showed that the C=0 band are attenuated to half their intensi, but do not disappear compl ly thus all the AI atoms do not react with all the OO sites. The foUowipg reaction scheme at the polyimide surface is concluded. ... 

Alterations in polyamic acid-polyimide surfaces produced by the use of different methods of curing (oven vs. hot plate), the application of a silane adhesion promotor (y-aminopropyltriethoxysilane), and the deposition of copper have been studied using ESCA. Our objective was to develop chemical state information (elemental composition, chemical bonding features) about the modifications occurring in the outermost few tens of angstroms of polyimide films. The results show different C Is spectral features for hot plate vs. oven cured films but identical stoichiometries. The silane treated amic acid surface... 

H. J. Leary, Jr. and D. S. Campbell, "ESCA Studies of Polyimide and Modified Polyimide Surfaces , in Photon, Electronand Ion Probes of Polymer Structure and... 

Table 12.10. Oldak and Pearson point out that these epoxies are intended to be used to adhere to polyimide surfaces, and this will be the next step in their studies.

N. L. Jeon, R.G. Nuzzo, "Physical and spectroscopic studies of the nucleation and growth of copper thin-films on polyimide surfaces by chemical-vapor deposition", Langmuir, 1995, 77, 341-355. 

Rothman (52) investigated the planarization of polyimide films over features tens of micrometers in size and separation. Bassous and Pepper (55) studied planarization of PMMA and AZ1350J over features pertinent to Si wafer processing. A mechanical stylus was used to determine the topography of the wafer and the corresponding surface variation of the resist thickness as shown in Figure 29 where a 1.7 - pm thick AZ1350J layer was spun on steps of different space and width combinations. 

As stated, the capability of plasma deposits to reduce the access of water to corrosion-sensitive surfaces may be an important motivation for their application in corrosion protection. In order to study this property, Kapton polyimide film was selected as the substrate because of its high inherent permeability to water and its ability to resist elevated temperatures. The response of Kapton film overcoated by PPHMDSO to the permeation of water vapor is shown in Fig. 1. Clearly, the presence of the organo-silicone plasma film greatly reduces water permeation. The magnitude of the effect is much enhanced when plasma polymers are produced at high T and p. 

The structural anisotropy in crystalline or structurally ordered BPDA-PFMB films was studied in this laboratory with wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) methods. In brief, WAXD experiments were designed to examine both the reflection and transmission modes of thin-fihn samples. In addition, uniaxially oriented polyimide fiber WAXD patterns were obtained to aid in the identification of the film structure. The film WAXD pattern obtained from the reflection mode corresponded well to the fiber pattern scanned along the equatorial direction (Figure 16.3), " which indicates that the reflection mode pattern represents the (hkQ) diffractions. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 16.4, the (001) diffractions were predominant in the film WAXD pattern obtained via the transmission mode. This pattern corresponded to the fiber pattern scanned along the meridian direction. These experimental observations clearly indicate that the c-axes of the crystals are preferentially oriented parallel to the film surface however, within the film, they are randomly oriented. 4.2 5 j( should be pointed out that the WAXD experiments are only sensitive to crystalline or ordered structures in polyimide films. They do not provide any information on the amorphous regions. 

Abstract—The adhesion of pyromellitic dianhydride-oxydianiline (PMDA-ODA) polyimide to fluorine-contaminated silicon dioxide (F-SiO,) with y-aminopropyllriethoxysilane (APS) adhesion promoter has been studied as a function of the peel ambient humidity. The peel strength was not affected by the change in peel ambient relative humidity (RH) from 11-17% to 35-60% when APS was used at the interface. Without APS, the adhesion degraded significantly with this change in RH. It was found that although the dip application of APS caused the removal of about 80% of the initial atomic percentage of fluorine on the surface, it could not be totally removed even after several days in water at elevated temperature. 

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