Effect of thermal cycling on the adhesion strength of Ti/Ni/Ag films on AlN substrate

The adhesion strength of Ti/Ni/Ag multi-layers on AlN substrates before and after thermal cycling treatment was studied. The Ti/Ni/Ag layers with thicknesses of 0.6, 1.0, and 0.2 μm, respectively, were deposited sequentially on bulk AlN substrates using direct current (DC) sputtering. Thermal cycling test (TCT) was conducted for 0, 15, 100, and 300 cycles to measure the adhesion strength of Ti/Ni/Ag on AlN. The adhesion strength of the deposited specimen increased slightly over 15 thermal cycles and increased abruptly after 100 thermal cycles. After 100 thermal cycles, Ti reacted with AlN substrate to form TiN and TiO. The formation of TiN and TiO at the Ti/AlN interface may be responsible for the increase of the adhesion strength after a large number of thermal cycles.