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Evaluation of elastic modulus and hardness of thin films by nanoindentation

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Abstract

Simple equations are proposed for determining elastic modulus and hardness properties of thin films on substrates from nanoindentation experiments. An empirical formulation relates the modulus E and hardness H of the film/substrate bilayer to corresponding material properties of the constituent materials via a power-lawrelation. Geometrical dependence of E and H is wholly contauned in the power-law exponents, expressed here as sigmoidal functions of indenter penetrationrelative to film thickness. The formulation may be inverted to enable deconvolution of film properties from data on the film/substrate bilayers. Berkovich nanoindentation data for dense oxide and nitride films on silicon substrates are used to validate the equations and to demonstrate the film property deconvolution. Additional data for less dense nitride films are used to illustrate the extent to which film properties may depend on the method of fabrication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-8500, USA

    Yeon-Gil Jung

  2. School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Brian R. Lawn

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Mariusz Martyniuk

  4. On leave from Department of Ceramic Science and Engineering, Changwon National University, Sarim-dong 9, Changwon, Kyung-Nam, Korea

    Han Huang & Xiao Zhi Hu

Authors
  1. Yeon-Gil Jung
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  2. Brian R. Lawn
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  3. Mariusz Martyniuk
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  4. Han Huang
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  5. Xiao Zhi Hu
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Jung, YG., Lawn, B.R., Martyniuk, M. et al. Evaluation of elastic modulus and hardness of thin films by nanoindentation. Journal of Materials Research 19, 3076–3080 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2004.0380

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2004.0380

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