Mechanical properties of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin film with different indentation depths

作者：Guo, Liqiang; Ding, Jianning^*; Yang, Jichang; Cheng, Guanggui; Ling, Zhiyong

来源：Surface and Interface Analysis, 2012, 44(3): 265-269.

DOI：10.1002/sia.3790

• mechanical properties
• hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin film
• indentation depth

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films were prepared on Corning 7059 glasses by plasma enhanced chemical vapor technique with radio frequency and direct current bias stimulation. The surface topography and microstructure of sample were characterized with atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the samples were investigated by TriboIndenter nanosystem. The elastic modulus E and hardness H of samples were calculated by means of Oliver and Pharr analysis method. The results show that with increasing the indentation depth from 70 to 180 nm, the maximum applied load P-max increases from 500 to 2000 mu N, while the elastic modulus E dives to 25 from 45 GPa, and the hardness H decreases from 4.9 to 3.8 GPa. After complete unloading, some plastic deformations occur on the films' surface and with the increase of the indentation depth, they become more obvious. This phenomenon is mainly connected with the film's growth mechanism. In this paper, we did an investigation and a discussion in detail about this phenomenon.

• 出版日期2012-3
• 单位江苏大学