Thin film/substrate systems featuring arbitrary film thickness and misfit strain distributions. Part II: Experimental validation of the non-local stress/curvature relations

The classical Stoney formula relating local equibiaxial film stress to local equibiaxial substrate curvature is not well equipped to handle realistic cases where the film misfit strain, the plate system curvature, and the film thickness and resulting film stress vary with in-plane position. In Part I of this work we have extended the Stoney formula to cover arbitrarily non-uniform film thickness for a thin film/substrate system subject to non-uniform, isotropic misfit strains. The film stresses are found to depend non-locally on system curvatures. In Part II we have designed a demanding experiment whose purpose is to validate the new analysis for the case of radially symmetric deformations. To achieve this, a circular film island with sharp edges and a radially variable, but known, thickness is deposited on the wafer center. The plate system’s curvatures and the film stress distribution are independently measured by using white beam and monochromatic X-ray microdiffraction (μXRD) measurements, respectively. The measured stress field (from monochromatic μXRD) is compared to the predictions of various stress/curvature analyses, all of which have the white beam μXRD measurements as input. The results reveal the shortcomings of the “local” Stoney approach and validate the accuracy of the new “non-local” relation, most notably near the film island edges where stress concentrations dominate.     

Multi-layer thin films/substrate system subjected to non-uniform misfit strains

Current methodologies used for the inference of thin film stress through curvature measurement are strictly restricted to stress and curvature states that are assumed to remain uniform over the entire film/substrate system. These methodologies have recently been extended to a single layer of thin film deposited on a substrate subjected to the non-uniform misfit strain in the thin film. Such methodologies are further extended to multi-layer thin films deposited on a substrate in the present study. Each thin film may have its own non-uniform misfit strain. We derive relations between the stresses in each thin film and the change of system curvatures due to the deposition of each thin film. The interface shear stresses between the adjacent films and between the thin film and the substrate are also obtained from the system curvatures. This provides the basis for the experimental determination of thin film stresses in multi-layer thin films on a substrate.     

Non-uniform, axisymmetric misfit strain： in thin films bonded on plate substrates/substrate systems： the relation between non-uniform film stresses and system curvatures

Current methodologies used for the inference of thin film stress through curvature measurements are strictly restricted to stress and curvature states which are assumed to remain uniform over the entire film/substrate system. By considering a circular thin film/substrate system subject to non-uniform, but axisymmetric misfit strain distributions in the thin film, we derived relations between the film stresses and the misfit strain, and between the plate system’s curvatures and the misfit strain. These relations feature a ‘‘local’’ part which involves a direct dependence of the stress or curvature components on the misfit strain at the same point, and a ‘‘non-local’’ part which reflects the effect of misfit strain of other points on the location of scrutiny. Most notably, we also derived relations between the polar components of the film stress and those of system curvatures which allow for the experimental inference of such stresses from full-field curvature measurements in the presence of arbitrary radial non-uniformities. These relations also feature a ‘‘non-local’’ dependence on curvatures making a full-field measurement a necessity. Finally, it is shown that the interfacial shear tractions between the film and the substrate are proportional to the radial gradients of the first curvature invariant and can also be inferred experimentally.     

Extension of Stoney's formula to non-uniform temperature distributions in thin film/substrate systems. The case of radial symmetry

Current methodologies used for the inference of thin film stress through curvature measurements are strictly restricted to stress and curvature states which are assumed to remain uniform over the entire film/substrate system. By considering a circular thin film/substrate system subject to non-uniform, but axisymmetric temperature distributions, we derive relations between the film stresses and temperature, and between the plate system's curvatures and the temperature. These relations featured a “local” part which involves a direct dependence of the stress or curvature components on the temperature at the same point, and a “non-local” part which reflects the effect of temperature of other points on the location of scrutiny. Most notably, we also derive relations between the polar components of the film stress and those of system curvatures which allow for the experimental inference of such stresses from full-field curvature measurements in the presence of arbitrary radial non-uniformities. These relations also feature a “non-local” dependence on curvatures making full-field measurements of curvature a necessity for the correct inference of stress. Finally, it is shown that the interfacial shear tractions between the film and the substrate are proportional to the radial gradients of the first curvature invariant and can also be inferred experimentally.     

Instability of an elastic film on a viscous layer

A flat, compressed elastic film on a viscous layer is unstable. The film can form wrinkles to reduce the elastic energy. In this paper, we are interested in the two-dimensional models for thin films bonded to a viscous layer and in particular we focus on generic instabilities evidenced in this context by Suo and coworkers [Huang, Z., Hong, W., Suo, Z., 2005. Non linear analyses of wrinkles in a film bonded to a compliant substrate. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 53, 2101–2118; Lo, Y.H., 1991. New approach to grow pseudomorphic structures over the critical thickness. Appl. Phys. Lett. 59, 2311–2320]. We present a rigorous linear perturbation analysis for anisotropic materials, that allows the prediction of both the orientation of the corrugations of the thin film, and the wavelength that maximize the growth velocity. Finally, we compare our theoretical estimates to experimental results for a In_0.65Ga_0.35As alloy constraint to InP.     

Wrinkling of a charged elastic film on a viscous layer

A thin metallic film deposited on a compliant polymeric substrate begins to wrinkle under compression induced in curing process and afterwards cooling of the system. The wrinkle mode depends upon the thin film elasticity, thickness, compressive strain, as well as mechanical properties of the compliant substrate. This paper presents a simple model to study the modulation of the wrinkle mode of thin metallic films bonded on viscous layers in external electric field. During the procedure, linear perturbation analysis was performed for determining the characteristic relation that governs the evolution of the plane-strain wrinkle of the thin films under varying conditions, i.e., the maximally unstable wrinkle mode as a function of the film surface charge, film elasticity and thickness, misfit strain, as well as thickness and viscosity of the viscous layer. It shows that, in proper electric field, thin film may wrinkle subjected to either compression or tension. Therefore, external electric field can be employed to modulate the wrinkle mode of thin films. The present results can be used as the theoretical basis for wrinkling analysis and mode modulation in surface metallic coatings, drying adhesives and paints, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), etc.     

Residual stresses in thin film systems: Effects of lattice mismatch,thermal mismatch and interface dislocations

This paper explores the mechanisms of the residual stress generation in thin film systems with large lattice mismatch strain, aiming to underpin the key mechanism for the observed variation of residual stress with the film thickness. Thermal mismatch, lattice mismatch and interface misfit dislocations caused by the disparity of the material layers were investigated in detail. The study revealed that the thickness-dependence of the residual stresses found in experiments cannot be elucidated by thermal mismatch, lattice mismatch, or their coupled effect. Instead, the interface misfit dislocations play the key role, leading to the variation of residual stresses in the films of thickness ranging from 100 nm to 500 nm. The agreement between the theoretical analysis and experimental results indicates that the effect of misfit dislocation is far-reaching and that the elastic analysis of dislocation, resolved by the finite element method, is sensible in predicting the residual stress distribution. It was quantitatively confirmed that dislocation density has a significant effect on the overall film stresses, but dislocation distribution has a negligible influence. Since the lattice mismatch strain varies with temperature, it was finally confirmed that the critical dislocation density that leads to the measured residual stress variation with film thickness should be determined from the lattice mismatch strain at the deposition temperature.     

A parametric study of laser induced thin film spallation

We report parametric studies of elastic wave generation by a pulsed laser and associated spalling of thin surface films by the corresponding high stresses. Two different substrate materials, single crystal Si (100) and fused silica, are considered. Spallation behavior of Al thin films is investigated as a function of substrate thickness, film thickness, laser energy, and various parameters governing the source. Surface displacement due to the stress wave is measured by Michaelson interferometry and used to infer the stresses on the film interface. Consistent with previous studies, the maximum stress in the substrate and at the film/substrate interface increases with increasing laser fluence. For many of the conditions tested, the substrate stress is large enough to damage the Si. Moreover, the maximum interface stress is found to increase with increasing film thickness, but decrease with increasing substrate thickness due to geometric attenuation. Of particular significance is the development of a decompression shock in the fused sillica substrates, which results in very high tensile stresses at the interface. This shock enhances the failure of thin film interfaces, especially in thicker samples.     

纳米压痕法测磁控溅射铝薄膜屈服应力

为了在考虑残余应力下测量出磁控溅射铝薄膜的屈服应力,提出了一种实验测量方法,通过曲率测试法和球形压头纳米压痕法测出磁控溅射铝薄膜的屈服应力．建立球形压痕力学模型,并用ANSYS对球形压痕进行力学有限元仿真,利用直流磁控溅射技术在硅基上淀积一层1 μm厚的铝薄膜,首先通过曲率测试法测量膜内等双轴残余应力,再利用最小二乘曲线拟合法从薄膜/基底系统的球形压头纳米压痕实验数据中提取出铝薄膜的屈服应力,测得磁控溅射铝薄膜的屈服应力为371 MPa．该方法也可以用来研究其他材料的薄膜和小体积材料的力学特性．     

Elastic fields of 2D and 3D misfit particles in an infinite medium

In micromechanics, accurate quantification of the elastic field (stress, strain, and displacement) caused by the presence of an inclusion in an infinite body is desired for both the particle and matrix materials. Ideally, the solution should be applicable to any particle geometry or shape and for any distribution of misfit along the interface (i.e. misfit profile). This work presents a dislocation-based numerical method, that is an extension to earlier work in this journal [Lerma, J.D., Khraishi, T., Shen, Y.L., Wirth, B.D., 2003. The elastic fields of misfit cylindrical particles: a dislocation-based numerical approach. Mech. Res. Commun. 30, 325–334], for determining the elastic fields of volume misfit particles with arbitrary misfit distribution or particle shape.     

Thermo-mechanical solution of film/substrate systems under local thermal load and application to laser lift-off of GaN/sapphire structures

Film/substrate structures may undergo a localized thermal load, which can induce stresses, deformation and defects. In this paper, we present the solutions of temperature and stresses in a film/substrate structure under a local thermal load on the film surface. Then, the generalized Stoney formula, which connects the curvature of deformation and the stress field is obtained. The present solution takes into account the non-uniformity of the temperature field both in the width and thickness directions of the film. The thermo-mechanical solution is applied to the analysis of the temperature distribution, stresses, and damage of a GaN/sapphire system during the laser lift-off (LLO) process. It is shown that the laser with the Gaussian distribution of energy density causes much smaller tensile stresses at the edge of the heated area in the film than the laser with the uniform distribution of energy density, and thus can avoid damage to the GaN films separated from the substrate.     

Small scale,grain size and substrate effects in nano-indentation experiment of film–substrate systems

The mechanical properties of film–substrate systems have been investigated through nano-indentation experiments in our former paper (Chen, S.H., Liu, L., Wang, T.C., 2005. Investigation of the mechanical properties of thin films by nano-indentation, considering the effects of thickness and different coating–substrate combinations. Surf. Coat. Technol., 191, 25–32), in which Al–Glass with three different film thicknesses are adopted and it is found that the relation between the hardness H and normalized indentation depth h/t, where t denotes the film thickness, exhibits three different regimes: (i) the hardness decreases obviously with increasing indentation depth; (ii) then, the hardness keeps an almost constant value in the range of 0.1–0.7 of the normalized indentation depth h/t; (iii) after that, the hardness increases with increasing indentation depth. In this paper, the indentation image is further investigated and finite element method is used to analyze the nano-indentation phenomena with both classical plasticity and strain gradient plasticity theories. Not only the case with an ideal sharp indenter tip but also that with a round one is considered in both theories. Finally, we find that the classical plasticity theory can not predict the experimental results, even considering the indenter tip curvature. However, the strain gradient plasticity theory can describe the experimental data very well not only at a shallow indentation depth but also at a deep depth. Strain gradient and substrate effects are proved to coexist in film–substrate nano-indentation experiments.     

Post-buckling analysis for the precisely controlled buckling of thin film encapsulated by elastomeric substrates

The precisely controlled buckling of stiff thin films (e.g., Si or GaAs nano ribbons) on the patterned surface of elastomeric substrate (e.g., poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) with periodic inactivated and activated regions was designed by Sun et al. [Sun, Y., Choi, W.M., Jiang, H., Huang, Y.Y., Rogers, J.A., 2006. Controlled buckling of semiconductor nanoribbons for stretchable electronics. Nature Nanotechnology 1, 201–207] for important applications of stretchable electronics. We have developed a post-buckling model based on the energy method for the precisely controlled buckling to study the system stretchability. The results agree with Sun et al.’s (2006) experiments without any parameter fitting, and the system can reach 120% stretchability.     

Spontaneous instability of soft thin films on curved substrates due to van der Waals interaction

The linear bifurcation theory is used to investigate the stability of soft thin films bonded to curved substrates. It is found that such a film can spontaneously lose its stability due to van der Waals or electrostatic interaction when its thickness reduces to the order of microns or nanometers. We first present the generic method for analyzing the surface stability of a thin film interacting with the substrate and then discuss several important geometric configurations with either a positive or negative mean curvature. The critical conditions for the onset of spontaneous instability in these representative examples are established analytically. Besides the surface energy and Poisson's ratio of the thin film, the curvature of the substrate is demonstrated to have a significant influence on the wrinkling behavior of the film. The results suggest that one may fabricate nanopatterns or enhance the surface stability of soft thin films on curved solid surfaces by modulating the mechanical properties of the films and/or such geometrical properties as film thickness and substrate curvature. This study can also help to understand various phenomena associated with surface instability.     

Buckling and postbuckling of a compressed thin film bonded on a soft elastic layer: a three-dimensional analysis

The wrinkling of a stiff thin film bonded on a soft elastic layer and subjected to an applied or residual compressive stress is investigated in the present paper. A three-dimensional theoretical model is presented to predict the buckling and postbuckling behavior of the film. We obtained the analytical solutions for the critical buckling condition and the postbuckling morphology of the film. The effects of the thicknesses and elastic properties of the film and the soft layer on the characteristic wrinkling wavelength are examined. It is found that the critical wrinkling condition of the thin film is sensitive to the compressibility and thickness of the soft layer, and its wrinkling amplitude depends on the magnitude of the applied or residual in-plane stress. The bonding condition between the soft layer and the rigid substrate has a considerable influence on the buckling of the thin film, and the relative sliding at the interface tends to destabilize the system.     

Elastic thermal stresses in a hollow circular overlay/substrate system

This paper investigates the thermal elastic fields in the hollow circular overlay fully bonded to a rigid substrate, which is subjected to a temperature change. Following our previous work for a solid circular overlay/substrate system (Yuan and Yin, Mech. Res. Commun. 38, 283–287, 2011), this paper presents a closed form approximate solution to the axisymmetric boundary value problem using the plane assumption, whose accuracy is verified by the finite element models. When the inner radius is reduced to zero, the present solution recovers the previous solution. When the outer radius approaches infinite, the solution provides the elastic fields for a tiny hole in the overlay. The effects of thickness and width of the overlay are investigated and discussed. When a circular crack initiates in a solid circular overlay, the fracture energy release rate is investigated. This solution is useful for thermal stress analysis of hollow circular thin film/substrate systems and for fracture analysis of spiral cracking in the similar structures.     

THERMAL STRESSES IN ELASTIC MULTILAYER SYSTEMS

多层保护膜结构在光学窗口等领域有广泛应用,其中膜层中的热应力对系统的功能和可靠性有重要影响. 推导了条形多层薄膜结构系统中应力应变的计算方法,并针对薄膜厚度远小于基底厚度的薄膜结构计算进行了相应的简化,得到了其一阶近似以及零阶近似应力的计算公式. 采用此公式对ZnS-Y₂O₃-SiO₂ 双层膜系红外窗口系统进行了求解分析. 计算结果显示,热应力在两层薄膜上的相对误差分别为1.54% 和0.09%,零阶近似可以很好地满足计算精度要求.     

Thermally induced deformations in a partially coated elastic layer

The problem of a thin film coated on an elastic layer and subject to a thermal variation is analytically investigated in the present work. The analysis is developed in order to assess the mechanical behaviour of a crystalline undulator designed for obtaining high emission radiations through channelling phenomenon. It consists in a plane silicon wafer alternately patterned with thin films in silicon nitride on both surfaces. The system adopts a periodic curvature as a result of the misfit strain due to the different thermal expansivities of the layer and the film. The problem is governed by an integral equation which can be reduced to a linear algebraic system by approximating the unknown interfacial shear stress via series expansion of Chebyshev polynomials.     

Surfactant spreading on a thin weakly viscoelastic film

A mathematical model is presented for surfactant-driven thin weakly viscoelastic film flows on a flat, impermeable plane. The Oldroyd-B constitutive relation is used to model the viscoelastic fluid. Lubrication theory and a perturbation expansion in powers of the Weissenberg number (We) are employed, which give rise to non-linear coupled evolution equations governing the transport of insoluble surfactant and thin liquid film thickness. Spreading on a Newtonian film is recovered to leading order and corrections to viscoelasticity are obtained at order We. These equations are solved numerically over a wide range of viscosity ratio (ratio of solvent viscosity to the sum of solvent and polymeric viscosities), pre-existing surfactant level and Peclet number (Pe). The effect of viscoelasticity on surfactant transport and fluid flow is investigated and the mechanisms underlying this effect are explored. Shear stress, streamwise normal stress and the temporal rate of change of extra shear stress generated from gradients in surfactant concentration dominate thin viscoelastic film flows whereas only shear stresses play a role in Newtonian thin film flows. Our results also reveal that, for weak viscoelasticity, the influence of viscosity ratio on the evolution of surfactant concentration and film thickness can be significant and varies considerably, depending on the concentration of pre-existing surfactant and surfactant surface diffusivity.