In situ Study of Cracking and Buckling of Chromium Films on PET Substrates

Chromium (Cr) films are widely used as interlayers to promote the adhesion of copper or gold to substrates. However, the Cr interlayer usually fractures at lower strains than the ductile metal films. In this paper, the cracking and buckling behavior of Cr films on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates were studied in situ under tensile loading with the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and optical microscope imaging. Cr films with three nominal thicknesses of 15, 70 and 140 nm were studied. The depth and width of the cracks, as well as the height and width of the buckles, were measured from AFM images acquired at incremental loading steps. The buckle shapes at different strain levels were carefully examined using AFM line profile. It was found that at large strain levels the measured buckle shapes usually deviated from the elastic buckling mode shapes. Further in situ AFM imaging of the buckles at a smaller scan area revealed that in some cases the buckles were cracked at the apex. These in situ nanoscale measurements provided experimental observations and data for further model development and more accurate measurement of the interfacial fracture energy at the Cr-PET interface.