AVS 51st International Symposium
    Exhibitor Workshop Wednesday Sessions
       Session EW-WeL

Paper EW-WeL3
Advances in Nanoindentation and Application to Ultra-Thin DLC Films

Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 12:40 pm, Room Exhibit Hall B

Session: Advances in SPM and Other Analytical Techniques
Presenter: J.M. Burkstrand, Hysitron, Inc.
Authors: J.M. Burkstrand, Hysitron, Inc.
S. Downs, Hysitron, Inc.
J.F. Moulder, Physical Electronics, USA
Correspondent: Click to Email
Recent trends in miniaturization of devices and demands for high-performance materials dictate a change in the way that materials are characterized. Understanding of the structure, properties and role of processing at the nanoscale is crucial to achieving the desired performance, regardless of the size scale of the final product. Nanomechanical characterization is a relatively new solution for materials testing, expanding on the range of capabilities of traditional hardness testing. Nanoindentation provides superior lateral and vertical resolution, allowing testing of surface properties or single phases of multi-phase materials. Typical nanoindentation and nanoscratching provide measurement of mechanical properties such as modulus, hardness, fracture toughness, friction coefficients and wear resistance. Hysitron has developed a new technique called modulus mapping which measures the spatial variation of a materialâ?Ts modulus in the near surface region. This nondestructive testing technique has been applied to very thin DLC films, <3 - 10nm, used in the storage industry and has produced some very interesting and exciting results. The modulus maps can quickly distinguish different areas with dissimilar mechanical properties which result from variations in deposition. A more complete picture of the ultra-thin properties emerges when these results are combined with other nanoindentation results and with XPS depth profiles of the same materials.