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Effect of Thickness and Substrates on the Mechanical Properties of Tantalum and Tantalum Nitride Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Ranjana Saha
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202.
Rama B. Inturi
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202.
John A. Barnard
Affiliation:
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202.
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Abstract

Determining the intrinsic mechanical properties of films by nanoindentation is complicated by the presence of the substrate. Generally, for very thin films (<100 nm) one unavoidably observes the properties of the film/substrate composite system. In order to determine the extent of the effect of the substrate on the mechanical properties of Ta and Ta-N thin films, we have grown these films in four different thicknesses (50, 250, 400 and 500 nm) and on three different substrates (glass, oxidized Si, and sapphire). The structure of the films was evaluated by x-ray diffraction and the mechanical properties (hardness and elastic modulus) were determined by nanoindentation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

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