Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-qxsvm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-06T07:13:42.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

In-Situ Observation and Mechanical Criterion on Interface Cracking in Nano-Components

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2012

T. Kitamura
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
T. Sumigawa
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Get access

Abstract

We have investigated the criterion of interfacial crack initiation in nanometer-scale components (nano-components) by means of a loading facility built in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Three types of experiments are conducted in this project. (1) In order to clarify the applicability of conventional continuum mechanics to the nano-components, we prepare cantilever specimens with different size, which introduce different stress fields, containing an interface between a 20 nm-thick copper (Cu) thin film and a silicon (Si) substrate. These demonstrate the validity of the “stress” criterion even for the nano-scale fracture. (2) In order to examine the effect of microscopic structure on the mechanical property, we fabricate a bending specimen in the nano-scale with thin Cu bi-crystal (the thickness of about 100 nm) formed on Si substrate, of which understructure can be observed in situ by means of a TEM during the mechanical experiment. The initial plastic deformation takes place near the interface edge in a grain with a high critical resolved shear stress and expands preferentially in the grain. Then, the plasticity appears near the between Cu grain boundary and Cu/Si interface, and this development brings about the interfacial cracking from the junction. These indicate the governing influence of understructure on the mechanical property in the nano-components. (3) In order to investigate the fatigue behavior of metal in a nano-component, a cyclic bending experiment is carried out using nano-cantilever specimens with a 20 nm-thick Cu constrained by highly rigid materials (Si and SiN). The high strain region is in the size of 20-40 nm near the interface edge. The specimen breaks along the Cu/Si interface before the maximum load under the fatigue loading. The load-displacement curve shows nonlinear behavior and a distinct hysteresis loop, indicating plasticity in the Cu film. Reverse yielding appearing after the 2nd cycle suggests the development of a cyclic substructure in the Cu film. These indicate that the crack is caused by characteristic understructure owing to fatigue cycles.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Haque, M.A. and Saif, M.T.A., Exp. Mech. 42, 1, 123128 (2002).Google Scholar
2. Huang, H. and Spaepen, F., Acta Mater. 48, 32613269 (2000).Google Scholar
3. Motz, C. and Schoberl, T. and Pippan, R., Acta Mater. 53, 42694279 (2005).Google Scholar
4. Sumigawa, T., Shishido, T., Murakami, T., Iwasaki, T. and Kitamura, T., Thin Solid Films 518, 60406047 (2010).Google Scholar
5. Sumigawa, T., Shishido, T., Murakami, T. and Kitamura, T., Mater. Sci. and Eng. A 527, 47964803 (2010).Google Scholar
6. Sumigawa, T., Murakami, T., Shishido, T. and Kitamura, T., Mater. Sci. and Eng. A 527, 65186523 (2010).Google Scholar
7. Sumigawa, T., Kitagawa, Y. and Kitamura, T., J. of Solid Mech. and Mater. Eng. 5, 3, 128137 (2011).Google Scholar
8. Sumigawa, T., Kitamura, T. and Murakami, T., Mater. Sci. and Eng. A 528, 51585163 (2011).S-N Google Scholar
9. Sumigawa, T., Nakano, T. and Kitamura, T., Exp. Mech., submitted.Google Scholar
10. Bogy, D.B., J. of App. Mech. 35, 460466 (1968)Google Scholar
11. McSkimin, H.J., Bond, W.L., Buehler, E. and Teal, G.K., Phys. Rev. 83, 10801080 (1951).Google Scholar
12. Peralta, P., Schober, A. and Laird, C., Mater. Sci. Eng. A 169, 4351 (1993).Google Scholar
13. Sumigawa, T., Kitamura, T. and Ohishi, K., Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 27, 495503 (2004) .Google Scholar
14. Kamaya, M. and Kitamura, T., Int. J. Frac. 124, 201213 (2003).Google Scholar
15. Mughrabi, H., Mater. Sci. and Eng. 33, 207223 (1978).Google Scholar
16. Kitamura, T., Hirakata, H., Sumigawa, T., Shimada, T., Fracture Nanomechanics, Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd., Singapore (2011).Google Scholar