Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T04:15:33.692Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of Microstructure on Microhardness of AlN Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Shuichi Miyabe ,
Masami Aono ,
Nobuaki Kitazawa  and
Yoshihisa Watanabe
Shuichi Miyabe
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-8686, Japan
Masami Aono
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-8686, Japan
Nobuaki Kitazawa
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-8686, Japan
Yoshihisa Watanabe
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-8686, Japan
Get access

Abstract

Aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films with columnar and granular structures were prepared by ion-beam assisted deposition method by changing nitrogen ion beam energy, and the effects of the film microstructure and film thickness on their microhardness were studied by using a nano-indentation system with the maximum force of 3 mN. For the columnar structure film of 600 nm in thickness, the microhardness is found to be approximately 24 GPa when the normalized penetration depth to the film thickness is about 0.1. For the granular structure film of 700 nm in thickness, the microhardness is found to be approximately 14 GPa. These results reveal that the microhardness of the AlN films strongly depends on the film microstructure, which can be controlled by regulating the nitrogen ion beam energy.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 695: Symposium L – Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties IX , 2001 , L5.3.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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

1. Wolf, G. K., Nucl. Instr. Meth. B65, 107 (1992).Google Scholar
2. Nakamura, Y., Watanabe, Y., Hirayama, S. and Naota, Y., Surf. Coat. Technol. 68–69, 203 (1994).Google Scholar
3. Watanabe, Y., Nakamura, Y., Hirayama, S. and Naota, Y. in Film Synthesis and Growth Using Energetic Beams, edited by Atwater, H. A., Dickinson, J. T., Lowndes, D. H. and Polman, A.. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 388, Pittsburgh, PA, 1995) pp.399–404.Google Scholar
4. Nakamura, Y., Watanabe, Y., Hirayama, S. and Naota, Y., Surf. Coat. Technol. 76–77, 337 (1995).Google Scholar
5. Watanabe, Y., Nakamura, Y., Hirayama, S. and Naota, Y. in Polycrystalline Thin Films: Structure, Texture, Properties, and Applications II, edited by Frost, H. J., Parker, M. A., Ross, C. A. and Holm, E. A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 403, Pittsburgh, PA 1996) pp.539–544.Google Scholar
6. Watanabe, Y., Nakamura, Y., Hirayama, S. and Naota, Y., Ceramics International 22, 509 (1996).Google Scholar
7. Hatwar, T. K., Shin, S. C. and Stinson, D. G., IEEE Tras. Mag MAG22, 946 (1986).Google Scholar
8. Bengtsson, S., Bergh, M., Choumas, M., Olesen, C. and Jeppson, K., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 35, 4175 (1996).Google Scholar
9. Kobayashi, Y., Tanaka, N., Okano, H., Takeuchi, K., Usuki, T. and Shibata, K., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, 2688 (1995).Google Scholar
10. Martin, A. L., Spalding, C. M., Dimitrova, V. I., Patten, P. G. Van, Caldwell, M. L., Kordesch, M. E. and Richardson, H. H., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A19, 1894 (2001).Google Scholar
11. Sakuragi, Y., Watanabe, Y., Amamoto, Y. and Nakamura, Y., J. Mat. Sci; Mat. In Electronic 10, 533 (1999).Google Scholar
12. Oliver, W. C. and Pharr, C. M., J. Mat. Res. 7, 1564 (1992).Google Scholar
13. Wittling, M., Bendavid, A., Martin, P. J. and Swain, M. V., Thin Solid Films 270, 283 (1995).Google Scholar
14. Tsui, T. Y., Vlassak, J. and Nix, W. D., J. Mat. Res. 14, 2196 (1999).Google Scholar
15. Tsui, T. Y., Vlassak, J. and Nix, W. D., J. Mat. Res., 2204 (1999).Google Scholar
16. Thornton, J. A., Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 7, 239 (1977).Google Scholar