Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:23:13.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A robust method for extracting the mechanical properties of thin films with rough surfaces by nanoindentation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2016

Naoki Fujisawa ,
Teng Fei Zhang ,
Byoung Hun Lee  and
Kwang Ho Kim
Naoki Fujisawa
Affiliation:
National Core Research Center for Hybrid Materials Solution, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea
Teng Fei Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Hybrid Materials, School of Convergence Science, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea; and Global Frontier R&D Center for Hybrid Interface Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea
Byoung Hun Lee
Affiliation:
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Emerging Electronic Devices and Systems, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712, Korea
Kwang Ho Kim*
Affiliation:
Global Frontier R&D Center for Hybrid Interface Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea; and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: kwhokim@pusan.ac.kr
Get access

Abstract

Surface roughness and finite sample thickness are major sources of error in the nanoindentation measurements of thin films as the former makes it difficult to determine the effective contact point between the indenter and sample while the latter limits the usable depth range to be no more than ∼10% of the film thickness. Combining a closed-form model of a film/substrate system with the ability of nanoindentation to monitor the contact depth, the present method defines the two-dimensional shape profile of the indenter contacting the composite system with one unknown constant associated with the model and another unknown constant associated with the effective contact point. On the basis that the obtained shape profile of the rigid indenter is identical to the pre-determined indenter shape profile function, the method extrapolates the two constants simultaneously so as to determine the effective contact point. The method was demonstrated for amorphous diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings.

Keywords

nano-indentationfilmelastic properties
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 31 , Issue 23 , 14 December 2016 , pp. 3777 - 3785
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Oliver, W.C. and Pharr, G.M.: Measurement of hardness and elastic modulus by instrumented indentation: Advances in understanding and refinements to methodology. J. Mater. Res. 19, 3 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chudoba, T., Schwarzer, N., and Richter, F.: Determination of elastic properties of thin films by indentation measurements with a spherical indenter. Surf. Coat. Technol. 127, 9 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalidindi, S.R. and Pathak, S.: Determination of the effective zero-point and the extraction of spherical nanoindentation stress–strain curves. Acta Mater. 56, 3523 (2008).Google Scholar
Grau, P., Berg, G., Fränzel, W., and Meinhard, H.: Recording hardness testing. Problems of measurement at small indentation depths. Phys. Status Solidi A 146, 537 (1994).Google Scholar
Ullner, C.: Requirement of a robust method for the precise determination of the contact point in the depth sensing hardness test. Measurement 27, 43 (2000).Google Scholar
Nix, W.D. and Gao, H.: Indentation size effects in crystalline materials: A law for strain gradient plasticity. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 411 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moseson, A.J., Basu, S., and Barsoum, M.W.: Determination of the effective zero point of contact for spherical nanoindentation. J. Mater. Res. 23, 204 (2008).Google Scholar
Gao, H., Chiu, C.H., and Lee, J.: Elastic contact versus indentation modeling of multi-layered materials. Int. J. Solids Struct. 29, 2471 (1992).Google Scholar
Bec, S., Tonck, A., Georges, J.M., Georges, E., and Loubet, J.L.: Improvements in the indentation method with a surface force apparatus. Philos. Mag. A 74, 1061 (1996).Google Scholar
Menčík, J., Munz, D., Quandt, E., Weppelmann, E.R., and Swain, M.V.: Determination of elastic modulus of thin layers using nanoindentation. J. Mater. Res. 12, 2475 (1997).Google Scholar
Song, H.: Selected mechanical problems in load and depth sensing indentation testing, Ph.D. Thesis, Rice University, 1999.Google Scholar
Rar, A., Song, H., and Pharr, G.M.: Assessment of new relation for the elastic compliance of a film-substrate system, in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties IX, edited by Ozkan, C.S., Freund, L.B., Cammarata, R.C., and Gao, H. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 695, Warrendale, PA, 2002) p. 431.Google Scholar
Saha, R. and Nix, W.D.: Effects of the substrate on the determination of thin film mechanical properties by nanoindentation. Acta Mater. 50, 23 (2002).Google Scholar
Nagao, S., Fujikane, M., Tymiak, N., and Nowak, R.: Achieving consistency of Young's modulus determination from nanoscale deformation of low-k films. J. Appl. Phys. 105, 106104 (2009).Google Scholar
Hay, J. and Crawford, B.: Measuring substrate-independent modulus of thin films. J. Mater. Res. 26, 727 (2011).Google Scholar
Cho, S.J., Lee, K.R., Eun, K.Y., Hahn, J.H., and Ko, D.H.: Determination of elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of diamond-like carbon films. Thin Solid Films 341, 207 (1999).Google Scholar
Lenardi, C., Baker, M.A., Briois, V., Nobili, L., Piseri, P., and Gissler, W.: Properties of amorphous a-CH(:N) films synthesized by direct ion beam deposition and plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition. Diamond Relat. Mater. 8, 595 (1999).Google Scholar
Yu, H.Y., Sanday, S.C., and Rath, B.B.: The effect of substrate on the elastic properties of films determined by the indentation test—Axisymmetric Boussinesq problem. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 38, 745 (1990).Google Scholar
Li, H. and Vlassak, J.J.: Determining the elastic modulus and hardness of an ultra-thin film on a substrate using nanoindentation. J. Mater. Res. 24, 1114 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar