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.