1. Microstructure and mechanical properties in the thin film system Cu-Zr
- Author
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Christoph Kirchlechner, Aleksander Kostka, J. Chakraborty, Christian Liebscher, Tobias Oellers, Gerhard Dehm, Rejin Raghavan, and Alfred Ludwig
- Subjects
010302 applied physics ,Materials science ,Metals and Alloys ,02 engineering and technology ,Surfaces and Interfaces ,Nanoindentation ,Sputter deposition ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Microstructure ,01 natural sciences ,Focused ion beam ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Crystallography ,Electrical resistivity and conductivity ,Transmission electron microscopy ,0103 physical sciences ,Materials Chemistry ,Composite material ,Thin film ,0210 nano-technology ,Elastic modulus - Abstract
A composition-spread Cu-Zr thin film library with Zr contents from 2.5 up to 6.5 at.% was synthesized by magnetron sputtering on a thermally oxidized Si wafer. The compositional and microstructural variations of the Cu-Zr thin film across the composition gradient were examined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high-resolution scanning and transmission electron microscopy of cross-sections fabricated by focused ion beam milling. Composition-dependent hardness and elastic modulus values were obtained by nanoindentation for measurement areas with discrete Zr contents along the composition gradient. Similarly, the electrical resistivity was investigated by 4-point resistivity measurements to study the influence of Zr composition and microstructural changes in the thin film. Both, the mechanical and electrical properties reveal a significant increase in hardness and resistivity with increasing Zr content. The trends of the mechanical and functional properties are discussed with respect to the local microstructure and composition of the thin film library.
- Published
- 2018