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In-situ Tensile Straining of Metal Films on Polymer Substrates under an AFM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2013

M.J. Cordill
Affiliation:
Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Jahnstrasse 12, Leoben, 8700, Austria
V.M. Marx
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Abstract

Metal films on polymer substrates are commonly used in flexible electronic devices and as gas barrier coatings. One way to evaluate the fracture and adhesion properties of such film systems is the fragmentation test. In the fragmentation test a film-substrate system is strained in tension under an optical microscope or inside a scanning electron microscope to observe the cracking and delamination events in situ. The technique works very well for brittle metal and ceramic films. However, when ductile films are strained they deform plastically before cracks and buckles appear. Therefore, a tensile straining device was developed to fit under an AFM for in situ observation of ductile metal films on polymer substrates. With the new in situ device the first occurrence of plastic deformation in the form of localized thinning of the film and channel cracks are visible. These features can only be detected through a height difference in the AFM images and not with optical or scanning electron micrographs. A comparison to brittle Cr films on polymer substrates was performed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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