Fracture mechanisms of GaAs under nanoscratching

Abstract

Nanoscratching on GaAs (001) by a pyramidal diamond tip (Berkovitch) indenter has been carried on under different loads, scratching velocities and directions. Plastic deformation and fractures induced by scratching have been investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM, respectively). Surface images revealed radial and surface tensile cracks. Focused ion beam (FIB) milling of the contact area revealed median and shear fracture distribution in the volume. The different cracks were characterized for various scratching conditions in terms of their direction of propagation, extension and frequencies. Plastic deformations have been characterized by vertical displacement of material. No purely ductile zone was observed, GaAs deformation occurred by fractures and plastic strain. Their preponderances are discussed in terms of material properties.

Dicing of gallium–arsenide high performance laser diodes for industrial applications

“…Nonetheless, so far only few tests (Wasmer et al, 2006;Solletti et al, 2005) were employed to tests this hypothesis so that no real statistics could have been performed. Fig.…”

“…The objective of this paper is to bring some lights in the micro-mechanical phenomena occurring during scratching of the GaAs based devices. This is due to the fact that in contrast to nanoindentation experiments, which have been thoroughly performed recently to investigate semiconductor mechanical properties (Bradby et al, 2001;Lloyd et al, 2001;Partiarch and Le-Bourhis, 2002;Grillo et al, 2003), much less effort has been put into understanding the effects of scratching at loads of a few mN on semiconductor surfaces (Wasmer et al, 2006;Wasmer et al, 2005;Fang et al, 2005;Solletti et al, 2005). Fig.…”

A New Method of AFM‐Based Nanolithography Using Frequency Enhanced Electrochemical Pressure Solution Etching

“…Nanoscratching has been performed on various materials including polymers, semiconductors, and metals. [10][11][12] However, nanoscratching possesses several critical limitations that have prevented it from becoming a widely used nanolithography technique beyond a few niche applications. First, the shear forces applied always result in tip damage [13] thus leading to a gradual decrease of pressure for the same force applied and result in inhomogeneous features designed.…”

Scratching and Brittle Fracture of Semiconductor In-Situ Scanning Electron Microscope

“…This behaviour has already been observed for little number of tests [18], but no real statistics has been performed. Although scratching is a much more complex phenomenon compared to indentation, the fracture mechanisms principle stands and thus, it is expected that Eq.…”