On coating adhesion during impulse plasma deposition

The impulse plasma deposition (IPD) technique is the only method of plasma surface engineering (among plasma-based technologies) that allows a synthesis of layers upon a cold unheated substrate and which ensures a good adhesion. This paper presents a study of plasma impacts upon a copper substrate surface during the IPD process. The substrate was exposed to pulsed N₂/Al plasma streams during the synthesis of AlN layers. For plasma–material interaction diagnostics, the optical emission spectroscopy method was used. Our results show that interactions of plasma lead to sputtering of the substrate material. It seems that the obtained adhesion of the layers is the result of a complex surface mechanism combined with the effects of pulsed plasma energy impacts upon the unheated substrate. An example of such a result is the value of the critical load for the Al₂O₃ layer, which was measured by the scratch-test method to be above 40 N. (paper)