Nanoindentation Behaviour and Microstructural Evolution of Au/Cr/Si Thin Films

Lee, Woei-Shyan; Liu, Te-Yu; Chen, Tao-Hsing

doi:10.2320/matertrans.mra2008385

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…On the other hand, the experimental results [12,103] show that both Young's modulus (Figure 20) and hardness (Figure 21) become slightly smaller as temperature increases. Woei S. Lee et al [104] focused their investigations on the nanomechanical properties of an as-deposited Au/Cr/Si thin film and performed indentation tests at a maximum depth of 1500 nm. After indentation, the annealed thin-film specimens were thoroughly analyzed.…”

Section: Thin Film Nano-mechanical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

AFM Nanotribomechanical Characterization of Thin Films for MEMS Applications

et al. 2021

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Nanotribological studies of thin films are needed to develop a fundamental understanding of the phenomena that occur to the interface surfaces that come in contact at the micro and nanoscale and to study the interfacial phenomena that occur in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and other applications. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been shown to be an instrument capable of investigating the nanomechanical behavior of many surfaces, including thin films. The measurements of tribo-mechanical behavior for MEMS materials are essential when it comes to designing and evaluating MEMS devices. A great deal of research has been conducted to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of different measurements methods for mechanical properties of MEMS material; nevertheless, the technologies regarding manufacturing and testing MEMS materials are not fully developed. The objectivesof this study are to focus on the review of the mechanical and tribological advantages of thin film and to highlight the experimental results of some thin films to obtain quantitative analyses, the elastic/plastic response and the nanotribological behavior. The slight fluctuation of the results for common thin-film materials is most likely due to the lack of international standardization for MEMS materials and for the methods used to measure their properties.

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Section: Thin Film Nano-mechanical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

AFM Nanotribomechanical Characterization of Thin Films for MEMS Applications

et al. 2021

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“…Despite the eminent importance of exploring the evolution of the mechanical properties of thin films and coatings at elevated temperatures (hardness and elastic modulus, size effects and deformation mechanisms), few studies can be cited [17][18][19][20]. The investigation of the mechanical properties at elevated temperatures has been stymied by the lack of appropriate instrumentation with sufficient resolution and stability as well as the lack of experimental standards and protocols.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mechanical properties of amorphous silicon carbonitride thin films at elevated temperatures

2014

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The mechanical properties of amorphous silicon carbonitride (a-SiC x N y ) films with various nitrogen content (y = 0-40 at.%) were investigated in situ at elevated temperatures up to 650°C in inert atmosphere. A SiC film was measured also at 700°C in air. The hardness and elastic modulus were evaluated using instrumented nanoindentation with thermally stable cubic boron nitride Berkovich indenter. Both the sample and the indenter were separately heated during the experiments to temperatures of 300, 500, and 650°C. Short duration high temperature creep tests (1200 s) of the films were also carried out. The results revealed that the room temperature hardness and elastic modulus deteriorate with the increase of the nitrogen content. Furthermore, the hardness of both the a-SiC and the a-SiCN films with lower nitrogen content at 300°C drops to approx. 77 % of the corresponding room temperature values, while it reduces to 69 % for the a-SiCN film with 40 at.% of nitrogen. Further increase of temperature is accompanied with minor reduction in hardness except for the a-SiCN film with highest nitrogen content, where the hardness decreases at a much faster rate. Upon heating up to 500°C, the elastic modulus of the a-SiCN film decreases, while it increases at 650°C due to the pronounced effect of short-range ordering. The steady-state creep rate increases at elevated temperatures and the a-SiC exhibits slower creep rates compared to the a-SiCN films. The value of the universal constant x = 7 relating the W p /W t and H/E * was established and its applicability was demonstrated. Analysis of the experimental indentation data suggests a theoretical limit of hardness to elastic modulus ratio of 0.143.

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“…It is known that Cr tends to diffuse and react with the substrate during processing, depending upon the choice of substrate and other combined materials. For example, in NEMS/MEMS [2,3] or CMOS structures [4], the behavior of the Cr interlayers during the processing steps is of fundamental importance [5][6][7]. Recently, it was shown that thermionic emission properties can be improved by employing chromium silicide (Cr 5 Si 3 ) as an electrical nanocontact material, as it facilitates charge transfer through the Si/Au interface by lowering the Schottky barrier [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%