Interface adhesion comparison of ZnS, SiO2 and Ag thin films deposited by vacuum coating method

Abstract

In our experiments, we found that the adhesion of multilayer film system containing 'soft film' material of ZnS and metal Ag was evidently superior to that of multilayer film system containing 'hard film' material of SiO2 and metal Ag. Through the compared research on the interface adhesion of two film systems, we theoretically explained this 'contradictory' phenomenon. The key is the difference of interface adhesive force. The adhesive force between the Ag-ZnS interface is affected by the action of both ionic bond force of interface transition layer and image effect force. This force is bigger than the van der wall's force which is the primary source of adhesive force between the Ag-SiO2 interface. From this research, a method can provided to resolve the moisture and other problem in the thin film techniques.