Effects of ion bombardment with reactive gas environment on adhesion of Au films to Parylene C film

Abstract In order to improve the adhesion between Parylene C and gold, Parylene C was surface-treated using ion-assisted reaction (IAR) before depositing gold at a working pressure of 0.6 mPa. Ar ion irradiation was performed under oxygen gas at a vacuum of 13 mPa. The contact angle of surface-treated Parylene C film on Si decreased significantly and the surface energy increased compared to untreated Parylene C film. These results are attributed to the presence of hydrophilic groups on the Parylene C films surface after modification using IAR. These functional groups were confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis on the modified Parylene C film. We confirmed that the adhesion of evaporated gold film on Parylene C improved as a function of ion dose quantities.