Application of NiMoNb adhesion layer on plasma-treated polyimide substrate for flexible electronic devices

•NiMoNb film on polyimide substrate was employed for higher peel strength.•Plasma-treated substrate enhances the peel strength of multilayer.•Even when annealed at 150 °C, plasma-treated films showed enhanced peel strength.

A thin film, NiMoNb, was introduced as an adhesion layer between the Cu metal and the insulator polyimide substrate in a flexible Cu-clad laminated structure. Using 90° peel test, we evaluated the peel strength of the system as a function of the thickness of the adhesion layer. An increase in the NiMoNb thickness from 7 to 40 nm enhanced the peel strength of the deposited systems. After plasma treatment by the roll-to-roll method, the multilayer structure showed an outstanding peel strength of ~ 529 N/m, even after thermal annealing at 150 °C for 168 h. We also studied the role of plasma treatment of the polyimide substrate on the adhesion strength and microstructure of a flexible Cu-clad laminated structure by peel strength, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. These experimental observations showed that the plasma-treated polyimide substrate with the deposition of NiMoNb showed the enhanced adhesion of ~ 656 N/m, because of the change of functional groups, which affected the bonding force and crystallinity of the thin films deposited on polyimide, rather than an increase in the surface roughness.