No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 December 2014
InP membranes have been bonded both oxide free and oxide mediated onto a Si substrate. The mechanical responses of the obtained thin (0.4 µm) membranes could be tested by nanoindentation and compared. Delamination of the membrane was observed to occur when the indenting load reached 55 mN for an oxide mediated bonded structure and 80 mN for an oxide free bonded one. Weibull analysis of these events yielded a modulus m of magnitude 6 to 10, indicating that delamination fracture is relatively predictable with a stronger interface obtained in oxide free approach. Delamination of the membrane is the result of constraint of plastic flow by the InP/Si interface. Membrane rotation is induced and increases with the indentation load, until it is sufficient to induce and propagate an interfacial crack.