Many industrial applications require the deposition of metal thin films on polymer surfaces in order to confer electrical conductive function to these insulating materials. This study was motivated by the will of Radiall company, which is a high performance connectors maker, to substitute the chemical bath metallization process by a plasma deposition process. The present work focuses on the study of a magnetron sputtering process with ionization of the mettalic vapor plasma (RF-IPVD) for depositing thin copper films on complex shapes poly-phenylene sulfide substrates. This thesis shows the results for the connectors metallization and also the analysis of the plasma. RF-IPVD process validation involves several steps: i) the development of polymer treatment by ICP plasma before depositing copper films in order to meet ISO 2409 adhesion standard. ii) determining the processing parameters to optimize the conductivity of the films and their compliance on the 3D substrates. The industrial part has been concluded by the definition of a prototype reactor with a view to achieve the implementation of the RF-IPVD process on an industrial scale. Several fundamental studies have been performed to understand the mechanisms governing the adhesion (XPS analysis) and those governing the resistivity (XRD analysis). Moreover, the use of various plasma diagnostics were used to understand the energy transfer mechanisms taking place in the gaseous medium and responsible of the films properties.
