Measurement of Thin Film Mechanical Properties Using Nanoindentation

Abstract

One of the simplest ways to measure the mechanical properties of a thin film is to deform it on a very small scale. Because indentation testing with a sharp indenter is one convenient means to accomplish this, nanoindentation, or indentation testing at the nanometer scale, has become one of the most widely used techniques for measuring the mechanical properties of thin films. Other reasons for the popularity of nanoindentation stem from the ease with which a wide variety of mechanical properties can be measured without removing the film from its substrate and the ability to probe a surface at numerous points and spatially map its mechanical properties. The utility of the mapping capability is illustrated in Figure 1, which shows several small indentations made at selected points in a microelectronic device. The hardness and modulus of the device were determined at each point. In addition to microelectronics, nanoindentation has also proved useful in the study of optical coatings, hard coatings, and materials with surfaces modified by ion implantation and laser treatment.

Surface hydration and nanoindentation of silicate glasses

“…Mechanical properties of the hydrated layer were measured only for SKMB1, SKMB2 (0-30 nm) and SS (20-40 nm) low durability compositions where thickness of the hydrated layer was suitably thick to minimise the contribution of substrate effect. [24][25][26][27] Mechanical properties for hydrated SLS1, SLSM1 and SLSM2 high durability glasses are given to show that hydration has little effect on their near-surface mechanical properties. For SS sample mechanical properties of hydrated layer are given for samples hydrated for 5 and 10 min respectively.…”

“…[24][25][26][27] To exclude contribution of the substrate empirical or semi-empirical models have been proposed. 31,32 When considering comparatively thick films, the Bückle rule is often employed which states that substrate effect can be negligible if the indentation depth is less than 10% of film thickness.…”

Nanoindentation of patterned metal lines on a Si substrate

“…Nanoindentation has been utilized extensively to probe mechanical properties of thin films [2][3][4]. As this technique can generate large strain (or stress) within the relatively small volume of materials, nanoindentation can be extended to other small-volume structures as well, such as patterned lines and islands on substrates.…”

Hardness of FRHC-Cu Determined by Statistical Analysis

“…However, scarce information is available in the literature determining in a statistical way the mechanical response without pile-up effects using nanoindentation technique. In this sense, ultra-low load indentation, is a technique developed over the last decade for probing the mechanical properties of materials (as the hardness and the elastic modulus) at very small scales (Ref 7,8), but also to locally induce plastic deformation in very small volumes.…”