The blade adhesion test applied to polyimide films onto silicon substrate

摘要

The blade adhesion test characterizes the adhesion strength by measuring the load required to remove a film from a semi-rigid substrate with a sharp blade. The blade adhesion test was used to quantify the practical adhesion strength of polyimide films spun onto Si with thickness varying from 8 μm to 30 μm. The adhesion strength was altered by applying Ta- or SiC-coatings to the silicon substrate and by subjecting the assembled specimens to environmental aging. The results indicate that the blade tangential force generally increases with increasing polyimide thickness and decreases as a result of elevated temperature exposure. The results quantify the sensitivity of the measured response to interface strength. A finite element analysis of interface separation by the blade was developed to assess the interface strength from the coating removal force data and from the geometry of the film as it is removed by the blade.