The relationship between adhesion and microstructure of copper films obtained in different plasma deposition modes

The paper shows that the use of different energies of plasma irradiation, which is performed simultaneously with copper deposition, leads to changes in the microstructure of condensates. By means of sclerometric studies, the relationship between the microstructure of films and the kinetics of their mechanical fracture was obtained. It is shown that the use of radio-frequency (RF) plasma, which affects the sample during film deposition, leads to the transformation of barrier-free film fracture into a process that requires overcoming some critical force. The influence of RF plasma is in many respects similar to the substrate temperature during condensation-stimulated diffusion. The observed improvement of adhesion properties of films subjected to more energetic RF processing is explained by condensation-stimulated recrystallization of their structure and formation of damping layers due to the embedding of working gas ions. Ion processing of films performed simultaneously with magnetron deposition is used for microstructure modification. The high efficiency of this approach is demonstrated. The effect of the microstructure of the films on their hardness and adhesion to the substrate is shown. An explanation of the change in the strength properties of the films and the mechanism of their fracture is given.