Structural and mechanical characterization of sputtered CuxNi100-x thin film using molecular dynamics

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been employed to simulate the deposition process of Cu and Ni atoms on the Ni (001) substrate with the different compositions in the CuxNi100-x film. Then, the mechanical characteristics of CuxNi100-x/Ni substrate are investigated during the nanoindentation process. The deformation behavior in the nanoindentation process is also investigated when the parameter for velocity, temperature changes. The lattice constant of CuNi alloy increases as Cu content in CuNi alloy rising. In the case of different contents of Cu atoms, the force, hardness of the CuxNi100-x/Ni substrate reduce as increasing the content of Cu. The shear strain and von Mises stress region increase as increasing the temperature and the loading velocity after the loading process. The plastic and elastic deformation of the CuxNi100-x/Ni substrate formed during nanoindentation. The force and hardness of the CuxNi100-x/Ni substrate reduce as increasing the temperature. In addition, with the higher loading speed, the force and hardness values become larger. The dislocation density increases as increasing the indentation depth after the loading process.