ENHANCED ADHESION BETWEEN METALS AND POLYMERS

ENHANCED ADHESION BETWEEN METALS AND POLYMERS A technique is described for increasing the adhesion between metals and organic substrates, where the metals are those which normally only very weakly bond to the substrate. These metals include Ni, Cu, Al, Ag, Au, Ta, Pt, Ir, Rh, Pd, Zn, and Cd. The organic substrates include mylar, polyimides, polyesters, plastics, polyethylene, polystyrene, etc. Enhanced adhesion occurs when intermixing, between the depositing metal atoms and the substrate is optimized to a depth less than about 1000 angstroms into the substrate. This occurs in a critical substrate temperature range of about (0.6-0.8) Tc, where Tc is the curing temperature of the substrate. The deposition rate of the metal atoms is chosen such that the arrival rate of the metal atoms at the surface of the substrate is comparable to or less than the rate of diffusion of metal atoms into the substrate. This provides optimum intermixing and maximum adhesion.