Characterization of Thin Films and Surfaces

Ohring, Milton

doi:10.1016/b978-012524975-1/50013-6

Cited by 71 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…1,89 Among the various ways used to provide energy to the growing film, bombardment by ionized species is widely used. 39,90 Numerous studies have shown that during the film growth, the plasmafilm interface is affected by the energy of the bombarding ions, their flux, their nature, and their angle of incidence.…”

Section: Thin Film Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In sputtering processes, relatively low-growth temperatures and high deposition rates result in limited assembly kinetics. 1,102 This in combination with extremely high cooling rates (10 13 Ks -1 ) during the condensation of the vapor on the substrate leads to nonequilibrium growth. 1,102 Thus, the variation of both thermodynamic and kinetic conditions during deposition enables tailoring of the phase composition.…”

Section: B Phase Composition Tailoring By Hipimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reprinted from Alami et al 15 with permission from the American Institute of Physics. energetic ions can be used for this purpose since they can trigger surface and bulk diffusion processes, 1,102 induce changes in the film structure and chemical composition, 103 and cause generation of internal stresses. [104][105][106][107] The high fluxes of ionized material available in HiPIMS have been found to allow for control of the phase formation in both elemental and compound films.…”

Section: B Phase Composition Tailoring By Hipimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

2012

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High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is a promising sputtering-based ionized physical vapor deposition technique and is already making its way to industrial applications. The major difference between HiPIMS and conventional magnetron sputtering processes is the mode of operation. In HiPIMS the power is applied to the magnetron (target) in unipolar pulses at a low duty factor (andlt;10%) and low frequency (andlt;10 kHz) leading to peak target power densities of the order of several kilowatts per square centimeter while keeping the average target power density low enough to avoid magnetron overheating and target melting. These conditions result in the generation of a highly dense plasma discharge, where a large fraction of the sputtered material is ionized and thereby providing new and added means for the synthesis of tailor-made thin films. In this review, the features distinguishing HiPIMS from other deposition methods will be addressed in detail along with how they influence the deposition conditions, such as the plasma parameters and the sputtered material, as well as the resulting thin film properties, such as microstructure, phase formation, and chemical composition. General trends will be established in conjunction to industrially relevant material systems to present this emerging technology to the interested reader.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (VR)|623-2009-7348

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Section: Thin Film Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Phase Composition Tailoring By Hipimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Phase Composition Tailoring By Hipimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

2012

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“…Here, we summarize these phenomena and discuss those which are relevant for MAX phases. More thorough descriptions can be found in textbooks [115,116].…”

Section: Sputtering With Compound Targetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The M+1AX phases: Materials science and thin-film processing

et al. 2010

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This article is a critical review of the M n+1 AX n phases ("MAX phases", where n =1, 2, or 3) from a materials science perspective. MAX phases are a class of hexagonal-structure ternary carbides and nitrides ("X") of a transition metal ("M") and an A-group element. The most well known are Ti 2 AlC, Ti 3 SiC 2 , and Ti 4 AlN 3 . There are ~60 MAX phases with at least 9 discovered in the last five years alone. What makes the MAX phases fascinating and potentially useful is their remarkable combination of chemical, physical, electrical, and mechanical properties, which in many ways combine the characteristics of metals and ceramics. For example, MAX phases are typically resistant to oxidation and corrosion, elastically stiff, but at the same time they exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivities and are machinable. These properties stem from an inherently nanolaminated crystal structure, with M n+1 X n slabs intercalated with pure A-element layers. The research on MAX phases has been accelerated by the introduction of thin-film processing methods.Magnetron sputtering and arc deposition have been employed to synthesize single-crystal material by epitaxial growth, which enables studies of fundamental materials properties. However, the surface-initiated decomposition of M n+1 AX n thin films into MX compounds at temperatures of 1000-1100 °C is much lower than the decomposition temperatures typically reported for the corresponding bulk material. We also review the prospects for low-temperature synthesis, which is essential for deposition of MAX phases onto technologically important substrates. While deposition of MAX phases from the archetypical Ti-Si-C and Ti-Al-N systems typically require synthesis temperatures of ~800 °C, recent results have demonstrated that V 2 GeC and Cr 2 AlC can be deposited at ~450 °C. Also, thermal spray of Ti 2 AlC powder has been used to produce thick coatings. We further treat progress in the use of first-principles calculations for predicting hypothetical MAX phases and their properties. Together with advances in processing and materials 3 analysis, this progress has led to recent discoveries of numerous new MAX phases such as Ti 4 SiC 3 , Ta 4 AlC 3 , and Ti 3 SnC 2 . Finally, important future research directions are discussed. These include charting the unknown regions in phase diagrams to discover new equilibrium and metastable phases, as well as research challenges in understanding their physical properties, such as the effects of anisotropy, impurities, and vacancies on the electrical properties, and unexplored properties such as superconductivity, magnetism, and optics. 4

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“…To accomplish such measurements, we consider the deposition of a film of thickness f h on the silicon beam. If necessary, thin adhesion layers (Ti, Ta, and Cr with thickness of ~10 nm) can be used to ensure good adhesion between the film and silicon [Ohr02]. The measured damping of this layered beam is the sum of TED in the composite and internal friction in the film.…”

Section: Theory: Calibration Using Thermoelastic Dampingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Microcantilever Platform for Measuring Internal Friction in Thin Films Using Thermoelastic Damping for Calibration

Sosale

Prabhakar

Fréchette

et al. 2011

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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Measuring structural damping due to internal friction in deposited thin films can provide useful guidelines for the design of high-Q micro/nanomechanical resonators utilized used for sensing, communications and vibration energy harvesting. Such measurements can also generate valuable insights into the effects of size and confinement on the mechanisms of damping in these films. Typically, these measurements are carried out by depositing a thin film on a relatively thick cantilevered substrate and measuring the change in damping in the substrate/film composite. However, the measured damping is due to losses from several sources including support losses, clamping losses, thermoelastic damping (TED) and internal friction losses in the substrate/film composite. Accurately identifying the magnitude of internal friction in the film has been a long-standing difficulty in this field. This thesis presents the design and development of a silicon microcantilever platform to resolve this difficulty. At the core of the platform is the ability to reduce the damping in single crystal silicon microcantilevers to low levels of damping approaching the fundamental limits of dissipation established by thermoelastic damping (TED). This demonstrates that all other sources of damping (viscous losses, support losses and internal friction losses) are sufficiently low. These cantilevers can then be coated with the thin film of interest and the damping in the substrate/film composite measured. The measured damping is comprised of the thermoelastic damping in the substrate/film composite and the internal friction in the film. The former can be calculated using accurate models and the initial damping can be substracted from the measured damping in the composite to obtain an accurate estimate of the internal friction in the film. ) with values approaching the TED limit. Subsets of these beams are then used to carry out the first calibrated iii measurements on the effects of thickness and frequency on internal friction in thin films of aluminum, gold and silver at room temperature. The films ranged in thickness from 60 nm to 450 nm and were studied over frequencies from 100 Hz to 1.5 kHz. The results of this study provide two valuable guidelines for the design of low dissipation (high Q) layered composite resonators: gold leads to a smaller increase in damping than either aluminum or silver, and damping in the composite resonators can be decreased by reducing the film thickness. As a third design guideline, a strategy to control and minimize the damping by selective patterning of thin films on the resonator is described. In this work, a simple model is developed to predict the damping in partially metalized cantilevered beams and experimentally validated using the platform. The silicon microcantilever platform, and the results obtained using this platform establish a foundation for studying internal friction in thin films.iv vi

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Characterization of Thin Films and Surfaces

Cited by 71 publications

References 14 publications

An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

The M+1AX phases: Materials science and thin-film processing

A Microcantilever Platform for Measuring Internal Friction in Thin Films Using Thermoelastic Damping for Calibration

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