Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 August 2003
Good adhesion of thin films to the substrate is obviously necessary for any practical applications. Ion beam and plasma treatment are used to establish enhanced adhesion of thin films at dielectric substrates. It was supposed that both these processes could lead either to removal of contaminant layers as a result of surface heating and desorption or to production of stable chemical bonding within the metal–substrate interface. The article shows that the second process is the dominant factor.