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Nanoindention studies of DC sputtered Cu and Cu/Cr thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

G. Wei ,
J. Du ,
A. Rar  and
J. A. Barnard
G. Wei
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Center for Materials for InformationTechnology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0209, U.S.A.
J. Du
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Center for Materials for InformationTechnology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0209, U.S.A.
A. Rar
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Center for Materials for InformationTechnology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0209, U.S.A.
J. A. Barnard
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Center for Materials for InformationTechnology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0209, U.S.A.
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Abstract

The nanoindentation behavior of DC magnetron sputtered 10 nm Cu and 10 nm Cu/2 nm Cr thin films deposited on Si (100) has been studied using a Hysitron nanomechanical system. X- ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity were used to measure the film structure and film thickness, respectively. The grain size and orientation of Cu and Cu/Cr thin films were measured by TEM. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to evaluate the surface morphology and roughness. At the same load, the nanoindentaion displacement of Cu/Cr is smaller than that for Cu, i.e., the 2nm thick Cr underlayer enhances the hardness of Cu. X-ray, TEM, and AFM results show that the grain size of Cu/Cr (< 15 nm) is actually larger than Cu (∼ 3 nm) indicating that the inverse Hall-Petch relationship may be operative.

Keywords

NanoindentionGrain SizeHall-PetchTransmission Electron Microscopy
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 672: Symposium O – Mechanisms of Surface and Microstructure Evolution in Deposited Films and Film Structures , 2001 , O5.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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