Anomalous mechanical characteristics of Au/Cu nanocomposite processed by Cu electroplating

An Au/Cu nanocomposite is produced by electroplating Cu on a nanoporous Au, and its mechanical characteristics are investigated by hardness tests. The Au/Cu nanocomposite showed a lower hardness and a lower elastic modulus than the nanoporous Au. Furthermore, annealing caused the nanocomposite to harden twice. Large lattice strains in the Au lattice for the nanocomposite were observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Also, first-principle calculations showed that lattice strains induce the decreased elastic modulus. Therefore, both the inverse mixing behaviour and the hardening via annealing are suggested to be related to the large lattice strains.     

Effect of Au interlayer thickness on the structural,electrical, and optical properties of GZO/Au/GZO multilayers

We report on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of Ga-doped ZnO/Au/Ga-doped ZnO (GZO/Au/GZO) multilayers as a function of Au interlayer thickness. Aggregated Au islands formed a continuous film as the thickness of the Au interlayer increased from 3 to 12 nm. Consequently, the sheet resistance, resistivity, and optical transmittance decreased with increasing Au interlayer thickness compared to a GZO single layer. However, a relatively high peak transmittance and a high figure of merit were obtained for an Au interlayer thickness of 9 nm. These results showed that the characteristics of GZO/Au/GZO multilayers could be improved by inserting an Au interlayer of optimized thickness. In addition, it indicated that the GZO/Au/GZO multilayer is the most promising candidates for indium free transparent conducting oxides (TCOs).     

Anisotropy of the optical and magneto-optical response of Au/Co/Au/Cu multilayers grown on vicinal Si (111) surfaces

The optical and magneto-optical second harmonic reflectivity response of Au/Co/Au/Cu multilayers grown on vicinal Si (111) substrates has been studied. These azimuthal optical non-linear experiments check the uniaxial character of the crystallinity of the Au buffer layer and the magnetic behavior of the ultrathin Co films in the metallic multilayer. They clearly show the strong dependence of the growth parameters and the misorientation of the vicinal surface on the SHG reflectivity signals. This uniaxial behavior is also correlated to linear MOKE experiments on the magnetic anisotropy with an easy magnetization axis parallel to the step edges. Received: 16 October 2001 / Published online: 29 May 2002     

Mechanical and tribological properties of Ni/Al multilayers—A molecular dynamics study

Mechanical and tribological properties of multilayers with nanometer thickness are strongly affected by interfaces formed due to mismatch of lattice parameters. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of nanoindentation and following nanoscratching processes are performed to investigate the mechanical and tribological properties of Ni/Al multilayers with semi-coherent interface. The results show that the indentation hardness of Ni/Al multilayers is larger than pure Ni thin film, and the significant strength of Ni/Al multilayers is caused by the semi-coherent interface which acts as a barrier to glide of dislocations during nanoindentation process. The confinement of plastic deformation by the interface during nanoscratching on Ni/Al multilayers leads to smaller friction coefficient than pure Ni thin film. Dislocation evolution, interaction between gliding dislocations and interface, variations of indentation hardness and friction coefficient are studied.     

Investigation of deformation instability of Au/Cu multilayers by indentation

Plastic deformation behavior of Au/Cu multilayers with individual layer thicknesses of 25–250 nm was investigated via microindentation experiments. It was found that plastic instability of the Au/Cu multilayer exhibits strong length scale (individual layer thickness and grain size) dependence. The smaller the length scale, the easier shear bands form. In other words, plastic deformation becomes unstable with decreasing length scale. Cross-sectional observation along with plan-view indicates that the occurrence of plastic deformation instability corresponds to transformation of the deformation mechanism associated with geometrical configuration and length scale of the material. At nanometer scale, buckling-assisted interface crossing of dislocations results in local shear band, while, at submicron scale or above, local dislocation pileup-induced interface offset leads to plastic instability. Theoretical analysis is conducted to understand the length scale-dependent plastic deformation behavior of the multilayer.     

Mechanism of microweld formation and breakage during Cu-Cu wire bonding investigated by molecular dynamics simulation

Currently,wire bonding is the most popular first-level interconnection technology used between the die and package terminals,but even with its long-term and excessive usage,the mechanism of wire bonding has not been completely evaluated.Therefore,fundamental research is still needed.In this study,the mechanism of microweld formation and breakage during Cu-Cu wire bonding was investigated by using molecular dynamics simulation.The contact model for the nanoindentation process between the wire and substrate was developed to simulate the contact process of the Cu wire and Cu substrate.Elastic contact and plastic instability were investigated through the loading and unloading processes.Moreover,the evolution of the indentation morphology and distributions of the atomic stress were also investigated.It was shown that the loading and unloading curves do not coincide,and the unloading curve exhibited hysteresis.For the substrate,in the loading process,the main force changed from attractive to repulsive.The maximum von Mises stress increased and shifted from the center toward the edge of the contact area.During the unloading process,the main force changed from repulsive to attractive.The Mises stress reduced first and then increased.Stress concentration occurs around dislocations in the middle area of the Cu wire.     

Microstructures and strengthening mechanisms of Cu/Ni/W nanolayered composites

Cu/Ni/W nanolayered composites with individual layer thickness ranging from 5?nm to 300?nm were prepared by a magnetron sputtering system. Microstructures and strength of the nanolayered composites were investigated by using the nanoindentation method combined with theoretical analysis. Microstructure characterization revealed that the Cu/Ni/W composite consists of a typical Cu/Ni coherent interface and Cu/W and Ni/W incoherent interfaces. Cu/Ni/W composites have an ultrahigh strength and a large strengthening ability compared with bi-constituent Cu–X (X?=?Ni, W, Au, Ag, Cr, Nb, etc.) nanolayered composites. Summarizing the present results and those reported in the literature, we systematically analyze the origin of the ultrahigh strength and its length scale dependence by taking into account the constituent layer properties, layer scales and heterogeneous layer/layer interface characteristics, including lattice and modulus mismatch as well as interface structure.     

Molecular dynamics study of plastic deformation mechanism in Cu/Ag multilayers

The plastic deformation mechanism of Cu/Ag multilayers is investigated by molecular dynamics(MD) simulation in a nanoindentation process. The result shows that due to the interface barrier, the dislocations pile-up at the interface and then the plastic deformation of the Ag matrix occurs due to the nucleation and emission of dislocations from the interface and the dislocation propagation through the interface. In addition, it is found that the incipient plastic deformation of Cu/Ag multilayers is postponed, compared with that of bulk single-crystal Cu. The plastic deformation of Cu/Ag multilayers is affected by the lattice mismatch more than by the difference in stacking fault energy(SFE) between Cu and Ag. The dislocation pile-up at the interface is determined by the obstruction of the mismatch dislocation network and the attraction of the image force. Furthermore, this work provides a basis for further understanding and tailoring metal multilayers with good mechanical properties, which may facilitate the design and development of multilayer materials with low cost production strategies.     

Synthesis and structure determination of bimetallic Au/Cu nanoparticles

The synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles has become so important in recent times due to its multi-faceted applications. The structure of the synthesised particles influences directly their properties. In this paper, we report the synthesis of Au/Cu nanoparticles by a simultaneous reduction method, considering three different molar concentrations (AuCu, AuCu₃ and Au₃Cu) of the components. In order to determine the size and structure of the obtained clusters, the particles were examined by optical spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. One of the major factors, the minimum bimetal formation energy, was calculated by an embedded-atom method. The relation between the Au/Cu proportions has been demonstrated to affect the size of the particles and the corresponding structures. From the basic structural analysis it is found that the particles were fcc-like, multiple twin or multiple defect particles for the different Au/Cu concentrations. The smallest particles were identified for the Au/Cu sample with 50% of each, and the most crystalline structures were also obtained in the same sample. PACS 61.46.+w; 61.16.-d; 31.15.Qg     

Analysis of the substrate effects of strain-hardening thin films on silicon under nanoindentation

Mechanical properties of thin films on substrates can be evaluated directly through nanoindentation. For a comprehensive study, thin films should be characterized via Young’s modulus, yield stress and strain-hardening exponent at constant temperature. In this paper, we evaluate these effects of thin films on silicon substrate through finite element analysis. Thin films, from soft to hard relative to the silicon substrate, are investigated in three categories: soft films on hard substrates, soft to hard films on no elastic mismatch substrates, and hard films on soft substrates. In addition to examining the load-displacement curve, the normalized hardness versus normalized indentation depth is checked as well to characterize its substrate effect. We found that the intrinsic film hardness can be acquired with indentation depths of less than 12% and 20% of their film thickness for soft films on hard substrates and for soft to hard films on no elastic mismatch substrates, respectively. Nevertheless, nanoindentation of hard films on soft substrates cannot determine the intrinsic film hardness due to the fact that a soft substrate cannot support a hard film. By examining the von Mises stresses, we discovered a significant bending phenomenon in the hard film on the soft substrate. PACS 61.43.Bn; 62.20.-x; 68.03.Hj; 68.05.Cf; 68.08.De     

Derivation of tensile flow properties of thin films using nanoindentation technique

By regarding the tip blunting as a ball indentation at very low depth range (within about 80 nm in our experiments), the flow properties of Au thin films were derived from the indentation load–depth curve obtained by nanoindentation technique. The effects of pile-up or sink-in were considered in determining the real contact between the indenter and the specimen. The representative strain in indentation was defined in various ways and examined by comparing the flow properties derived from indentation load–depth curve with those measured by tensile test. The best definition was found to be the shear strain at contact edge multiplied by 0.1. When we considered the effects of pile-up or sink-in, the representative stress in indentation could also be determined, and was found to be one third of the mean contact pressure for fully plastic regime. As a more intrinsic property than hardness, the yield strengths of Au films with thickness of 0.56 and 0.99 μm were extrapolated from the derived true stress–true strain curve as 261±30 and 154±18 MPa, respectively.     

界面结构对Cu/Ni多层膜纳米压痕特性影响的分子动力学模拟

金属多层膜调制周期下降到纳米级时,其力学性质会发生显著改变. Cu-Ni晶格失配度约为2.7%,可以形成共格界面和半共格界面,实验中实现沿[111]方向生长的调制周期为几纳米且具有异孪晶界面结构的Cu/Ni多层膜,其力学性质发生显著改变.本文采用分子动力学方法对共格界面、共格孪晶界面、半共格界面、半共格孪晶界面等四种不同界面结构的Cu/Ni多层膜进行纳米压痕模拟,研究压痕过程中不同界面结构类型的形变演化规律以及位错与界面的相互作用,获取Cu/Ni多层膜不同界面结构对其力学性能的影响特征.计算结果表明,不同界面结构的样品在不同压痕深度时表现出的强化或软化作用机理不同,软化机制主要是由于形成了平行于界面的分位错以及孪晶界面的迁移,强化机制主要是由于界面对位错的限定作用以及失配位错网状结构与孪晶界面迁移时所形成的弓形位错之间的相互作用.     

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of the induced spin polarization of Cu in Co/Cu and Fe/Cu multilayers

We present an x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study of Co/Cu and Fe/Cu multilayers, finding that the Cu atoms in these structures exhibit an induced magnetic moment in the d shell. The average Cu spin moment is shown to fall-off inversely with the thickness of the Cu layer. Further, for comparable Cu layer thicknesses, the Cu moments in Fe/Cu and Co/Cu multilayers are found to be nearly equal, despite the fact that the Cu layers in the Co/Cu multilayers are shown to be fee while those in the Fe/Cu structures are bcc. These observations suggest that the induced moment is primarily situated at the Co/Cu and Fe/Cu interfaces and is resultant from short range chemical hybridization between the ferromagnetic and Cu atoms. Results from a local spin density functional theory are presented and found to be in excellent agreement with experimental observations. These results indicate that the Cu d electrons play a central role in mediating the exchange coupling between successive ferromagnetic layers.     

Suppression of interlayer segregation in spin-valve NiFe/Cu/NiFe/FeMn multilayers

Experimental results show that Cu atoms can float out to or segregate to the NiFe/FeMn interface for Ta/NiFe/Cu/NiFe/FeMn/Ta spin-valve multilayers, which results in a drop of the exchange-coupling field (H_ex) of NiFe/FeMn in the spin-valve multilayers. However, when a small amount of Bi atoms is deposited between the Cu and the pinned NiFe layers, Cu segregation to the NiFe/FeMn interface can be suppressed. At the same time, H_ex of NiFe/FeMn in the spin-valve multilayers with a Bi interfacial layer can be effectively increased. PACS 75.70.Cn; 82.80.Pv     

Di-jet correlation in Au+Au and Cu+Cu Collisions from PHENIX

PHENIX has measured the two-particle azimuth correlation in Au+Au at √s=200 GeV. Jet shape and yield at the away side are found to be strongly modified at intermediate and low p _T, and the modifications vary dramatically with p _T and centrality. At high p _T, away side jet peak reappears but the yield is suppressed. Similar jet strength is found for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions with similar number of participant nucleons.     

197Au Mössbauer study of Au/Ni artificial multilayers

¹⁹⁷Au Mössbauer measurements have been performed at 16 K on the Au/Ni artificial multilayers having three different thickness of the layers those are 10Å Au/10Å Ni, 30Å Au/30Å Ni and 53Å Au/53Å Ni on a 250Å pure Au buffer layer. Mössbauer spectra obtained can be decomposed into mainly two components. One is an unperturbed component having an identical isomer shift value to the bulk Au metal. The other is the component perturbed strongly by the Ni layer indicating a broad contribution at positive velocity side and its intensity depends on the thickness of the Au layer. The spectrum from 10Å Au/10Å Ni multilayer is an entirely perturbed one and its area ratio to the component rising from pure Au buffer layer indicates the large Debye-Waller-factor suggesting the supermodulus effect in this multilayer.     

Large magnetothermoelectric power in Co/Cu, Fe/Cu and Fe/Cr multilayers

We report and discuss experimental data on the thermoelectric power of magnetic multilayers. Measurements of the thermoelectric power of Fe/Cr, Co/Cu and Fe/Cu multilayers have been carried out in the temperature range 4K < T < 150 K magnetic fields perpendicular to the layers. All specimens were found to exhibit pronounced magnetothermoelectric power (MTEP) effects correlating with their giant negative magnetoresistance. The main difference between the MTEP and the magnetoresistance is in their temperature dependence. Whereas the magnetoresistance is a decreasing function of temperature, the MTEP, at least in Co/Cu and Fe/Cu multilayers, is very small at low temperature and increases rapidly above 30–40 K. We ascribe this high temperature part of the MTEP to spin-dependent electron-magnon scattering and we propose a theoretical model.     

Mössbauer effect investigations of Co83Fe17/Au/Co/Au multilayers

[Co₈₃Fe₁₇/Au/Co/Au]_N sputter deposited multilayers displaying a giant magnetoresistance have been investigated. Complementary magnetic measurements were conducted in order to characterize a spin reorientation transition in Co₈₃Fe₁₇ layers sandwiched between Au spacers. The transition from a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy to easy-plane one takes place at the thickness of about 1 nm.     

System size and centrality dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at square root of SNN = 62.4 and 200 GeV

We present transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in Cu + Cu collisions at square root of SNN = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The spectra are measured for transverse momenta of 0.25 < pT < 5.0 GeV/c at square root of SNN = 62.4 GeV and 0.25 < pT < 7.0 GeV/c at square root of SNN = 200 GeV, in a pseudorapidity range of 0.2 < eta < 1.4. The nuclear modification factor R(AA) is calculated relative to p + p data at both collision energies as a function of collision centrality. At a given collision energy and fractional cross section, R(AA) is observed to be systematically larger in Cu + Cu collisions compared to Au + Au. However, for the same number of participating nucleons, R(AA) is essentially the same in both systems over the measured range of pT, in spite of the significantly different geometries of the Cu + Cu and Au + Au systems.     

System size, energy, centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of charged-particle density in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at RHIC

Charged particle pseudorapidity distributions are presented from the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC, measured in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at ?{s_NN }\sqrt {s_{NN} } =19.6, 22.4, 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV, as a function of collision centrality. The presentation includes the recently analyzed Cu+Cu data at 22.4 GeV. The measurements were made by the same detector setup over a broad range in pseudorapidity, |η| < 5.4, allowing for a reliable systematic study of particle production as a function of energy, centrality and system size. Comparing Cu+Cu and Au+Au results, we find that the total number of produced charged particles and the overall shape (height and width) of the pseudorapidity distributions are determined by the number of nucleon participants, N _part. Detailed comparisons reveal that the matching of the shape of the Cu+Cu and Au+Au pseudorapidity distributions over the full range of η is better for the same N _part/2A value than for the same N _part value, where A denotes the mass number. In other words, it is the geometry of the nuclear overlap zone, rather than just the number of nucleon participants that drives the detailed shape of the pseudorapidity distribution and its centrality dependence.