ABSTRACT
Thin lms represent thin material layers with thickness sizes ranging from a fraction of a nanometer to several micrometers. Applications of thin lms may be mentioned in several important domains, such as microelectronics, optical and magnetic devices, electrochemistry, protective and decorative coatings, and catalysis. Equally, polymer materials are widely used in various areas due to their advantages of low weight, low cost, and good mechanical properties. Nevertheless, polymeric materials also present some drawbacks, particularly related to surface properties, conductivity, durability, and decorativeness. For improving these aspects, metallic or ceramic lms are preferred for deposition on such polymer substrates. Regardless, the metallization process of polymer substrates is of considerable technological importance and presents signicant interest from a fundamental point of view. These multiphase composites systems of metal/polymer substrate and polymer/metal/polymer types are widely used in a variety of applications, such as in food packaging, on-chip interconnection, reectors for car lights, optical data storage (compact discs), electrically shielded computer cases, decorative coatings, optical ultra-thin color lters, and substrates for biomolecules. Generally, the properties of thin metal/polymer interfaces are determined by the metal-polymer interaction and also by the polymer and by the morphology of the interface. The cohesive energy of metals is typically two orders of magnitude higher than that of polymers. Furthermore, the adhesion between moderately reactive metals and polymers is generally much weaker than the strong metal-metal binding forces.
