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Effect of Microstructure on the Electro-Mechanical Behaviour of Cu Films on Polyimide

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Abstract

Metal films on polymer substrates are commonly used in flexible electronic devices and may be exposed to large deformations during application. For flexible electronics, the main requirement is to remain conductive while stretching and compressing. Therefore, the electro-mechanical behaviour of 200-nm-thick Cu films on polyimide with two different microstructures (as-deposited and annealed) were studied by executing in situ fragmentation experiments with x-ray diffraction, under an atomic force microscope, and with 4-point probe resistance measurements in order to correlate the plastic deformation with the electrical behaviour. The three in situ techniques clearly demonstrate different behaviours controlled by the microstructure. Interestingly, the as-deposited film with a bi-modal microstructure is more suited for flexible electronic applications than an annealed film with homogenous 1-µm-sized grains. The as-deposited film reaches a higher yield stress, with unchanged electrical conductivity, and does not show extensive surface deformation during straining.

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Acknowledgements

Funding of the research has been provided by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) through Project P22648-N20. The authors would like to thank the HZB for the allocation of synchrotron radiation beamtime and thankfully acknowledges the financial support by the HZB (Project No. 2011_2_110211 and 2012_1_111115). The authors would like to also thank I. Zizak and D. Többens, of the HZB for beamline support and J. Schalko of the Research Unit for Integrated Sensor Systems of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Wiener Neustadt, Austria) for providing the Cu films.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science, Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Department of Materials Physics, Montanuniversität Leoben, Jahnstrasse 12, 8700, Leoben, Austria

    J. Berger, O. Glushko, C. Kirchlechner & M. J. Cordill

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Str.1, 40237, Düsseldorf, Germany

    V. M. Marx & C. Kirchlechner

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  1. J. Berger
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  2. O. Glushko
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  3. V. M. Marx
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  4. C. Kirchlechner
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  5. M. J. Cordill
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Correspondence to M. J. Cordill.

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Berger, J., Glushko, O., Marx, V.M. et al. Effect of Microstructure on the Electro-Mechanical Behaviour of Cu Films on Polyimide. JOM 68, 1640–1646 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1940-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1940-z

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