scholarly journals Annealing-induced recovery of indents in thin Au(Fe) bilayer films

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 2088-2099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kosinova ◽  
Ruth Schwaiger ◽  
Leonid Klinger ◽  
Eugen Rabkin
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Dislocation Loops ◽  
Depth Sensing ◽  
Ordered Arrays ◽  
Sapphire Substrates ◽  
Bilayer Films ◽  
Gas Atmosphere ◽  
Film Annealing

We employed depth-sensing nanoindentation to produce ordered arrays of indents on the surface of 50 nm-thick Au(Fe) films deposited on sapphire substrates. The maximum depth of the indents was approximately one-half of the film thickness. The indented films were annealed at a temperature of 700 °C in a forming gas atmosphere. While the onset of solid-state dewetting was observed in the unperturbed regions of the film, no holes to the substrate were observed in the indented regions. Instead, the film annealing resulted in the formation of hillocks at the indent locations, followed by their dissipation and the formation of shallow depressions nearby after subsequent annealing treatments. This annealing-induced evolution of nanoindents was interpreted in terms of annihilation of dislocation loops generated during indentation, accompanied by the formation of nanopores at the grain boundaries and their subsequent dissolution. The application of the processes uncovered in this work show great potential for the patterning of thin films.

The Effect of Surface Interactions on the Viscosity of Polymer Thin Films

2005 ◽  
Vol 890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunhua Li ◽  
Jun Jiang ◽  
Miriam J. Rafailovich ◽  
Jonathan C. Sokolov
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Effective Viscosity ◽  
Polymer Thin Films ◽  
Surface Interactions ◽  
Polymer Chains ◽  
Bilayer Films ◽  
Silicon Interface ◽  
Effect Of Surface

ABSTRACTPreviously, we reported that the viscosity of a polymer film can be measured in situ by observing the liquid-liquid dewetting of polymer bilayer films. In this study, we use the technique to investigate the effect of film thickness and surface interactions on the effective viscosity of polymer thin films. We found that the effective viscosity increases dramatically with decreasing the film thickness. We attribute this to the pinning of the polymer chains at the strongly interacting polymer/Silicon interface.

Micro-Mechanical Characterization of Tantalum Nitride Thin Films on Sapphire Substrates

1994 ◽  
Vol 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shankar K. Venkataraman ◽  
John C. Nelson ◽  
Neville R. Moody ◽  
David L. Kohlstedt ◽  
William W. Gerberich
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Film Surface ◽  
Interfacial Fracture ◽  
Tantalum Nitride ◽  
Interfacial Fracture Toughness ◽  
Sapphire Substrates ◽  
Thin Film Resistors ◽  
Sputter Deposited

ABSTRACTThe adhesion of Ta2N thin films – often used as thin film resistors – to sapphire substrates has been studied by continuous microindentation and microscratch techniques. Ta2N films, 0.1-0.63μm in thickness, were sputter deposited onto single crystal substrates. Continuous microscratch experiments were performed by driving a conical diamond indenter simultaneously into and across the film surface until stresses high enough to delaminate the film were developed. Continuous microindentation experiments were performed to induce film spallation by normal indentation. From both of these experiments, interfacial fracture toughness was determined as a function of film thickness. The interfacial fracture toughness obtained from continuous microscratch experiments is 0.53±0.17 MPa√m, independent of film thickness. This observation indicates that there is almost no plastic deformation in the film prior to fracture so that a ‘true’ interfacial fracture toughness is measured. For the 0.63 µm thick film, continuous microindentation data yielded a fracture toughness of 0.61 ±0.08 MPa√m, which matches closely the value obtained from the microscratch test. Hence, the continuous microscratch and microindentation techniques are viable methods for determining the interfacial fracture toughness in such bi-material systems.

Abnormal Grain Growth in Ultra-Thin Films of Germanium on Insulator

1983 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yonehara ◽  
C.V. Tihompson ◽  
Henry I. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Surface Energy ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Surface Relief ◽  
Relief Structure ◽  
Surface Energy Anisotropy ◽  
Energy Anisotropy

ABSTRACTThe growth of large secondary grains with (112) texture, and solid-state agglomeration to single-crystal islands have been observed by annealing ultra-thin (less than 1000Å) films of Ge. A driving force proportional to surface-energy anisotropy and inversely proportional to film thickness is believed to be responsible for both phenomena. The temperature for agglomeration decreases with film thickness, and is further depressed by the presence of Sn vapor. Patterning Ge into stripes increases secondary grain size and population. Encapsulation with a film of SiO2 suppresses agglomeration and alters crystallographic texture. A surface-relief structure of 0.2μm period and 300Å depth induces a (100) texture in some cases, and alters the morphology of agglomerated islands.

scholarly journals A Quantitative Model for Interpreting Nanometer Scale Hardness Measurements of Thin Films

1993 ◽  
Vol 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.H. Poisl ◽  
B.D. Fabes ◽  
W.C. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Interfacial Strength ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Carbon Layer ◽  
Nanometer Scale ◽  
Depth Sensing ◽  
Sapphire Substrates ◽  
Measured Change ◽  
Film Substrate ◽  
Measured Hardness

ABSTRACTA model has been developed to determine the hardness of thin films from the measured change in hardness with indenter displacement using a depth-sensing indentation instrument. The model is developed by dividing the measured hardness into film and substrate contributions based on the projected areas of both the film and substrate under the indenter. The model incorporates constraints on the deformation of the film by the surrounding material in the film, the substrate, and friction at the indenter/film and film/substrate interfaces. These constraints increase the pressure that the film can withstand and account for the increase in measured hardness as the indenter approaches the substrate.The model is evaluated by fitting the predicted hardness versus depth curves to data obtained from titanium and Ta2O5 films of varying thicknesses on sapphire substrates. The model predicts a lower interfacial strength for Ta2O5 films on sapphire with a carbon layer between the film and the substrate than that obtained for a film without an interfacial carbon layer.

Mechanical Characterization of Sub-Micron Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Thin Films

1997 ◽  
Vol 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. N. Lucas ◽  
C. T. Rosenmayer ◽  
W. C. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Excitation Frequency ◽  
Tensile Modulus ◽  
Depth Sensing ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Reliability Modeling ◽  
Interlayer Dielectric ◽  
Constrained Deformation

ABSTRACTThis study reports the results of an investigation of the mechanical properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin films on silicon substrates in the 0.5 to 15 μm thickness regime using frequency specific depth-sensing indentation. All measurements were conducted at an excitation frequency of 45 Hz using a constant (1/P dP/dt) load ramp of 0.1 s−1. The modulus of the PTFE at a depth of 5% of the film thickness was measured to be approximately 1 GPa (v = 0.46) independent of film thickness. These values are somewhat higher than the values obtained from free-standing 15 μm film measurements of 0.4 GPa for the tensile modulus and 0.49 GPa for the storage modulus @ 1.1 Hz. The film hardness at these depths was observed to range between 30 and 55 MPa with no correlation observed between the hardness and respective film thickness. While reliability modeling for interconnects currently uses interlayer dielectric mechanical properties data determined from free-standing films with thicknesses of several microns, these insitu results should more closely mimic the constrained deformation that occurs during service and perhaps lead to a better understanding of the electromigration resistance of PTFE.

Formation of NiAl Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films by a Solid-State Reaction

2008 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 377-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.G. Myagkov ◽  
L.E. Bykova ◽  
S.M. Zharkov ◽  
G.N. Bondarenko
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Shape Memory Alloy ◽  
Shape Memory ◽  
Solid State Reaction ◽  
Bilayer Film ◽  
Martensitic Transition ◽  
Aluminum Films ◽  
Bilayer Films ◽  
Nial Alloy

NiAl shape memory alloy thin films have been fabricated by a solid-state reaction in Al/Ni bilayer films. Two kinds of synthesis have been used. The first one consists in heating an Al/Ni bilayer film system to temperatures above 480 K. The second one implies the successive deposition of nickel and aluminum films onto a substrate with a temperature above 480 K. Regardless of a kind of the solid-state synthesis, the films obtained reveal a two-way shape memory effect. It is supposed that the solid-state reaction in Al/Ni bilayers starts at a temperature AS of the reverse of the martensitic transition in NiAl alloy. This indicates that the NiAl shape memory alloy thin films can be formed directly during the synthesis without need for lengthy heat treatment.

TEM studies of solid-state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 1020-1021
Author(s):  
F. Ma ◽  
S. Vivekanand ◽  
K. Barmak ◽  
C. Michaelsen
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Stoichiometric Composition ◽  
Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Solid State Reactions ◽  
Multilayer Thin Films ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sputter Deposited

Solid state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films have been studied by transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM/AEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Nb/Al multilayer thin films for TEM studies were sputter-deposited on (1102)sapphire substrates. The periodicity of the films is in the range 10-500 nm. The overall composition of the films are 1/3, 2/1, and 3/1 Nb/Al, corresponding to the stoichiometric composition of the three intermetallic phases in this system.Figure 1 is a TEM micrograph of an as-deposited film with periodicity A = dA1 + dNb = 72 nm, where d's are layer thicknesses. The polycrystalline nature of the Al and Nb layers with their columnar grain structure is evident in the figure. Both Nb and Al layers exhibit crystallographic texture, with the electron diffraction pattern for this film showing stronger diffraction spots in the direction normal to the multilayer. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all films are dominated by the Al(l 11) and Nb(l 10) peaks and show a merging of these two peaks with decreasing periodicity.

Giant Anisotropy of Conductivity in Hydrogenated Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films

1998 ◽  
Vol 536 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Pevtsov ◽  
N. A. Feoktistov ◽  
V. G. Golubev
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Percolation Theory ◽  
Nanocrystalline Silicon ◽  
Spatial Light Modulators ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Light Modulators ◽  
Silicon Thin Films ◽  
Longitudinal Conductivity ◽  
Transverse Conductivity

AbstractThin (<1000 Å) hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon films are widely used in solar cells, light emitting diodes, and spatial light modulators. In this work the conductivity of doped and undoped amorphous-nanocrystalline silicon thin films is studied as a function of film thickness: a giant anisotropy of conductivity is established. The longitudinal conductivity decreases dramatically (by a factor of 109 − 1010) as the layer thickness is reduced from 1500 Å to 200 Å, while the transverse conductivity remains close to that of a doped a- Si:H. The data obtained are interpreted in terms of the percolation theory.

scholarly journals Solid State NMR Spectroscopy a Valuable Technique for Structural Insights of Advanced Thin Film Materials: A Review

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1494
Author(s):  
Mustapha El Hariri El Nokab ◽  
Khaled O. Sebakhy
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Thin Films ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Solid State Nmr ◽  
Pulse Sequences ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
Spectroscopic Techniques ◽  
Film Research ◽  
Versatile Technique ◽  
Work Done

Solid-state NMR has proven to be a versatile technique for studying the chemical structure, 3D structure and dynamics of all sorts of chemical compounds. In nanotechnology and particularly in thin films, the study of chemical modification, molecular packing, end chain motion, distance determination and solvent-matrix interactions is essential for controlling the final product properties and applications. Despite its atomic-level research capabilities and recent technical advancements, solid-state NMR is still lacking behind other spectroscopic techniques in the field of thin films due to the underestimation of NMR capabilities, availability, great variety of nuclei and pulse sequences, lack of sensitivity for quadrupole nuclei and time-consuming experiments. This article will comprehensively and critically review the work done by solid-state NMR on different types of thin films and the most advanced NMR strategies, which are beyond conventional, and the hardware design used to overcome the technical issues in thin-film research.

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