Enhanced adhesion and conductivity of Cu electrode on AlN substrate for thin film thermoelectric device

The Cu thin film electrode grown on aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate is widely used in the thin film thermoelectric devices due to its high electrical conductivity. We have developed a new type of buffer layer by co-sputtering Ti and Cu forming Ti-Cu layer. The Ti-Cu layer was sputtered on the Ti buffered AlN substrate so that the adhesion and electrical conductivity properties of the Cu film electrode on AlN substrate could be improved. The interface between the thin films and the substrate were characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nanoscratch tests were conducted on a nanomechanical test system to investigate the adhesion between the Cu film electrodes and AlN substrate. Meanwhile, accelerated ageing test under thermal cycling was conducted to evaluate the reliability of the thin film electrode. The results show that the adhesion and the reliability of Cu film electrode on AlN substrate have been greatly improved by employing Ti-Cu/Ti buffer layers.