A laser-induced spallation technique is employed to obtain the critical interface strength of the poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO) polymer and silicon nitride (SixNy) interface in a silicon (Si)/SixNy/PBO multilayered wafer. Stress wave propagation in this multilayered material is analyzed both analytically and numerically. The influence of processing conditions, substrate surface morphology and PBO formulations on the interface adhesion strength is investigated. The interface strength values correlate strongly with the PBO formulation and surface roughness of the substrate. Effect of autoclaving on the interface adhesion strength is also investigated. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.