Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Polyimide Films: The Effects of UV Irradiation on Microscale Surface

As an attractive dielectric material, polyimide has been widely used in the field of electronics, aerospace, and automobiles due to its useful mechanical properties and good chemical resistance. UV irradiation was considered to be the main factor related to the damage and failure of polyimide. Here the effects of UV irradiation on the surface morphology and microscale mechanical properties of polyimide films are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The surface roughness of the UV-irradiated samples developed and the mechanical properties degraded with the radiation dose increased. For comparison, uniaxial tensile test was performed to obtain the macroscale Young’s modulus of polyimide film. The UV-irradiated damaging depth was simulated with finite element method (FEM).