Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-q6k6v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T00:46:22.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Extracting the elastic moduli of the constituent layers of a multilayered thin film from nanoindentation tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2013

Chunyu Zhang ,
Meng Zhao ,
Yulan Liu  and
Biao Wang
Chunyu Zhang
Affiliation:
Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082 Guangdong, China
Meng Zhao
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 Guangdong, China
Yulan Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 Guangdong, China
Biao Wang*
Affiliation:
Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082 Guangdong, China; and School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 Guangdong, China
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: wangbiao@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Get access

Abstract

Multilayer thin films have been widely used for their enhanced mechanical and tribological properties relative to the monolayers of equivalent thickness. However, the mechanical properties of the each constituent layer are rarely investigated due to the difficulty in separating the effects of the constituent layers. An inverse analysis method to identify the elastic moduli of the constituent layers of multilayer films is developed by fitting the finite element calculations with indentation measurements within the framework of numerical optimization. The method is verified against typical monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer film structures both numerically and experimentally. Uniqueness and substrate-independence of the extracted moduli are ensured by the multiple loading–unloading cycles of the indentation tests. The method provides a feasible way to characterize the intrinsic mechanical properties of the constituent layers of multilayered thin films and further to explore the dominant mechanism for the enhancement of their mechanical properties.

Keywords

elastic propertiesthin filmnano-indentation
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 28 , Issue 18 , 28 September 2013 , pp. 2570 - 2576
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Molina-Aldareguia, M., Lloyd, S.J., Oden, S.J., Joelsson, T., Hultman, L., and Clegg, W.J.: Deformation structures under indentations in TiN/NbN single-crystal multilayers deposited by magnetron sputtering at different bombarding ion energies. Philos. Mag. A 82, 1983–1992 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, B.C., Kim, H.Y., Kwon, O.Y., and Hong, S.H.: Bilayer thickness effects on nanoindentation behavior of Ag/Ni multilayers. Scr. Mater. 57, 703–706 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, H.Y., Sanday, S.C., and Rath, B.B.: The effect of substrate on the elastic properties of films determined by the indentation test—axisymmetrical boussinesq problem. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 38, 745–764 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, H., Chiu, C.H., and Lee, J.: Elastic contact versus indentation modeling of multi-layered materials. Int. J. Solids Struct. 29, 2471–2492 (1992).Google Scholar
Mencik, J., Munz, D., Quandt, E., Weppelmann, E.R., and Swain, M.V.: Determination of elastic modulus of thin layer using nano-indentation. J. Mater. Res. 12, 2475–2484 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saha, R. and Nix, W.D.: Effects of the substrate on the determination of thin film mechanical properties by nanoindentation. Acta Mater. 50, 23–38 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, C.Y., Zhang, Y.W., and Zeng, K.Y.: Extracting the mechanical properties of a viscoelastic polymeric film on a hard elastic substrate. J. Mater. Res. 19, 3053–3061 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antunes, J.M., Fernandes, J.V., Sakharova, N.A., Oliveira, M.C., and Menezes, L.F.: On the determination of the Young’s modulus of thin films using indentation tests. Int. J. Solids Struct. 44, 8313–8334 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tricoteaux, A., Duarte, G., Chicot, D., Le Bourhis, E., Bemporad, E., and Lesage, J.: Depth-sensing indentation modeling for determination of elastic modulus of thin films. Mech. Mater. 42, 166–174 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, H., Randall, N.X., and Vlassak, J.J.: New methods of analyzing indentation experiments on very thin films. J. Mater. Res. 25, 728–734 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, J. and Crawford, B.: Measuring substrate-independent modulus of thin films. J. Mater. Res. 26, 727–738 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chima-Okereke, C., Bushby, A.J., Reece, M.J., Whatmore, R.W., and Zhang, Q.: Experimental, analytical, and finite element analyses of nanoindentation of multilayer PZT/Pt/SiO2 thin film systems on silicon wafers. J. Mater. Res. 21, 409–419 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peyrot, I., Bouchard, P-O., Ghisleni, R., and Michler, J.: Determination of plastic properties of metals by instrumented indentation using a stochastic optimization algorithm. J. Mater. Res. 24, 936–947 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rauchs, G. and Bardo, J.: Identification of elasto-viscoplastic material parameters by indentation testing and combined finite element modelling and numerical optimization. Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 47, 653–667 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamasaki, H., Shinbat, K., and Yoshida, F.: Viscoplastic parameter identification for lead-free solder alloy by micro-indentation, FE simulation and optimization. Mater. Trans. 49, 532–537 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karimpour, M., Balint, D.S., Rzepiejewska-Malyska, K.A., Szerling, A., Michler, J., and Lin, J.: An inverse method for extracting the mechanical properties of the constituent materials of a multilayer from nanoindentation data. Comp. Mater. Sci. 68, 384–390 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, W.C. and Pharr, G.M.: An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments. J. Mater. Res. 7, 1564–1583 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doerner, M.F. and Nix, W.D.: A method for interpreting the data from depth-sensing indentation instruments. J. Mater. Res. 1, 601–609 (1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levenberg, K.: A method for the solution of certain nonlinear problems in least squares. Q. Appl. Math. 2, 164–166 (1944).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marquardt, D.W.: An algorithm for least-squares estimation of nonlinear inequalities. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 11, 431–441 (1963).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, J. and Lin, J.: A study on the determination of plastic properties of metals by instrumented indentation using two sharp indenters. Int. J. Solids Struct. 44, 5803–5817 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Code-Aster, A multi-physics finite element code for structural mechanics, http://www.code-aster.org/, V10.3, 2012.Google Scholar
Shang, S.H., Yang, P., and Li, C.: Nanoindentation experiment of W/Al bilayer-film system and its finite element simulation. Electron. Compon. Mater. 28, 60–63 (2009) [in Chinese].Google Scholar