Buckling behaviors and adhesion energy of nanostructured Cu/X (X = Nb,Zr) multilayer films on a compliant substrate

Two sets of Cu/Nb (face-centered cubic (fcc)/body-centered cubic) and Cu/Zr (fcc/hexagonal close-packed) nanostructured multilayer films (NMFs) have been prepared on a flexible polyimide substrate, with a wide range modulation period (λ) from 250 down to 5 nm. The mechanical properties of the two NMFs have been measured upon uniaxial tensile testing and the buckling behaviors have been systematically investigated as a function of λ. A significant difference in the bucking behaviors was found between the two NMFs, with the buckles in the Cu/Nb NMF being mostly cracked, while the buckles were nearly crack-free in the Cu/Zr NMF. The different buckling behaviors, dependent on the constituent phases, are rationalized in the light of the disparity in mechanical properties. The criteria to characterize buckle cracking have been discussed with respect to the mechanical properties (e.g. yield strength, ductility and fracture toughness) of the NMFs. A modified energy balance model has been employed to estimate the adhesion energy of the NMFs on the polyimide substrate. Within the λ regime below a critical size (λ_crit) of ～50 nm a λ-independent adhesion energy of about 1.1 and 1.2 J m^?2 has been determined for the Cu/Nb and Cu/Zr NMFs, respectively, which agrees well with previous reports on the metal film/polymer substrate systems. Within the λ regime greater than λ_crit, however, the measured adhesion energy exhibit a strong size effect, i.e. increasing with increasing λ. The λ dependence of the evaluated adhesion energy is discussed in terms of the size-dependent deformation mechanism in NMFs. A micromechanics model has been utilized to quantify the critical modulation period of ～50 nm, where the deformation mechanism changes from dislocation pile-up to confined layer slip.     

Cu/X(X=Cr,Nb)纳米多层膜力/电学性能的尺度依赖性

利用纳米压痕实验以及四探针法,系统研究了相同层厚Cu/X(X=Cr,Nb)纳米金属多层膜的力学性能(强/硬度)和电学性能(电阻率)的尺度依赖性.微观分析表明:Cu/X多层膜调制结构清晰,Cu层沿{111}面择优生长,X层沿{110}面择优生长.纳米压入结果表明,Cu/X多层膜的强度依赖于调制周期,并随调制周期的减小而增加.多层膜变形机制在临界调制周期(λ~c≈25 nm)由Cu层内单根位错滑移转变为位错切割界面.多层膜的电阻率不仅与表面/界面以及晶界散射相关,而且在小尺度下受界面条件显著影响.通过修正的FS-MS模型可以量化界面效应对多层膜电阻率的影响.Cu/X纳米多层膜可以通过调控微观结构实现强度-电导率的合理匹配.