AFM and Auger investigations of as-deposited and heat treated copper coatings on glassy carbon surfaces with chromium and molybdenum intermediate layers

Copper carbon composites are a prospective material for application as heat sink material in thermal management applications. One of the main drawbacks of this material combination is the lack of adhesion between copper and carbon. In order to improve the interfacial properties in this system a basic investigation on carbon substrates was done, where the influence of adhesion promoting intermediate layers was investigated. Besides the study of the influence of a Cr and Mo intermediate layer on the growth mode and surface topography of a copper coating, the diffusion of Cr and Mo after a heat treatment was analysed by using Auger electron spectroscopy.