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IOP PUBLISHING JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D: APPLIED PHYSICS
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301 (8pp) doi:10.1088/0022-3727/42/6/065301

Nanomechanical and nanotribological

testing of ultra-thin carbon-based and
MoST films for increased MEMS
durability
B D Beake1,3 , S R Goodes1 and B Shi2
1
Micro Materials Ltd, Willow House, Yale Business Village, Wrexham, LL13 7YP, UK
2
Surface Science Group, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University, Birmingham,
B4 7ET, UK
E-mail: ben@micromaterials.co.uk

Received 18 August 2008, in final form 18 December 2008

Published 25 February 2009
Online at stacks.iop.org/JPhysD/42/065301

Abstract
Reliability of MEM (microelectromechanical) devices can be limited by stiction forces that
develop in use. It is desirable to alter the mechanical and interfacial behaviour of the silicon
surfaces by the application of very thin, low surface energy and low stress coatings. In this
publication we report the nanomechanical and nanotribological characterization of a range of
5–150 nm thin films deposited on silicon by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) and closed
field unbalanced magnetron sputtering. A method of analysing nano-scratch data with
spherical indenters is proposed. The method suggests the onset of non-elastic deformation in
the nano-scratch test is due to substrate yield rather than film deformation on all but the softest
films studied in this publication. The critical load for total film failure is a marked function of
indenter radius, the ratio of hardness to modulus and the film thickness. The FCVA films were
tested with probes of different radii (1.1, 3.1 and 9.0 µm) and the critical load for film failure
was found to vary strongly with probe radius. The deposition of <100 nm amorphous carbon
films on Si could be a promising strategy for improving the reliability of Si-based MEMS
devices as none of the very thin films tested underwent stress-related delamination failures that
occur behind the indenter during the nano-scratch testing of thicker amorphous carbon films.

1. Introduction low friction coating with several materials and deposition

When contact occurs, the reliability of micro-devices (e.g.
MEMS) can be limited by wear and stiction forces that
develop in use [1]. Mechanical and interfacial behaviour
of the silicon surfaces can be modified with thin, low
surface energy and low stress films. Deposition conditions
should be optimized to minimize wear in contact. Self-
assembled monolayers (SAMs) such as octadecylchlorosilane
have been shown to work well as passivation layers for
contact friction but much less well where sliding occurs,
with high wear after moderate periods of applied shear [2–4].
An alternative strategy is to deposit a hard wear resistant
3 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
routes being investigated [2, 5, 6]. In addition to coating
choice it is also important to determine its optimum thickness.
We have shown recently that when ∼1 µm a-C films were
deposited under high substrate bias resulting in very high
values of the ratio of hardness to modulus (H /E), a parameter
often linked to tribological performance, they performed well
at low load but very poorly in more highly loaded wear
situations [7]. Not only did they exhibit low critical loads
but also failure involves extensive delamination outside of
the scratch track. This behaviour is consistent with an
optimum combination of hardness and stress in the film being
required that can provide the best wear resistance and highest
critical loads in the scratch test; for these 1 µm a-C when
the H /E ratio was too high performance suffers. However,

0022-3727/09/065301+08$30.00 1 © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
on thinner (200 nm) a-C films neither this deformation mode
nor strong dependence on substrate bias was observed, and
films with the highest H /E showed slightly improved scratch
resistance. It was therefore suggested that a suitable strategy
for optimizing wear resistance for even thinner films for
MEMS applications is to aim to maximize H /E [7]. In this
current publication we have tested this hypothesis and have
extended the testing to include thinner films and report the
nanomechanical/nanotribological characterization of a range
of 5–150 nm experimental thin films deposited by filtered
cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) and closed field unbalanced
magnetron sputtering (CFUBMS). Ta-C films deposited by
FCVA have been developed for MEMS applications including
capacitive sensors and protective coatings for micromachined
components [8–10]. They have a high sp3 fraction of carbon
atoms (over 80%) conferring high hardness, but the films
can be highly stressed [11, 12]. In contrast, the CFUBMS
deposition process is capable of producing dense, low stress
coatings, which are typically somewhat softer than the films
deposited by FCVA [13, 14]. The nano-scratch and nanowear
resistance of FCVA ta-C films has been studied previously with
spherical probes of 100–1200 nm resulting in critical loads in
the range 0.1–7.5 mN [15–18]. Ichimura and co-workers have
noted that the critical load in scratch testing of ∼2.5 µm hard
coatings on steels with indenter radii 100–400 µm followed a
complex dependence on probe radius that could be explained
by equation (1):
Lc = 2πRγ δcr Hcr , (1)
where γ is a proportionality constant, δcr is the critical
depth at failure and Hcr is the composite scratch hardness
at the same load. Equation (1) shows that the critical load
increases proportionally with the indenter radius only when
the contact depth at failure and the composite hardness do not
change [19, 20].
It is of interest to investigate the variation in measured
critical load with the radius of the spherical probe for these
thin films. Very small radius probes (100 nm) have been shown
to get progressively worn away on repeated testing of hard
films [14]. In this publication, larger precision polished probes
have been used which are less likely to blunt during the testing,
have well-defined radius and produce film failures at higher
forces which are easily observed by optical without recourse
to post-test SEM imaging.
We were also interested in comparing the scratch
resistance of films deposited by FCVA and CFUBMS. We
investigate the failure mechanisms occurring in the nano-
scratch test, determine the yield pressures, assess film
durability and from the nanoindentation and nano-scratch
data suggest design rules for optimizing film properties for
enhanced scratch and wear resistance.
2. Experimental
2.1. Preparation of ta-C, MoST and a-C : H films
5–80 nm ta-C films were deposited on Si using the FCVA
process as described in [8–12]. The p++ silicon substrates
2
B D Beake et al
were ultrasonically cleaned with deionized water for 10 min,
followed by drying with a static neutralizing blow off gun. The
samples were placed in the deposition chamber of an industrial
filtered cathodic vacuum arc system (Nanofilm Technologies
Pte. Ltd.) evacuated to a base pressure lower than 1×10−6 Torr.
Prior to deposition, the silicon surface was sputtered by an
argon ion beam from a dc ion beam source for 3 min to
remove the native oxide. The substrate holder was in floating
bias. The film thickness of the 20–80 nm films was measured
by a surface profiler and the thickness of the 5 nm film was
estimated from the deposition rate. Experimental metal-
containing molybdenum disulphide (MoST) 70–150 nm and
70 nm a-C : H films were deposited on Si wafers using a
teer coatings closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering
ion plating (CFUBMSIP) technique. The methodology for
producing these films is described in detail elsewhere [13, 14].
In contrast to the usual deposition conditions for CFUBMS no
interlayer was deposited for these experimental samples and
their composition was not through-thickness graded.
2.2. Nanoindentation and nano-scratch testing
Nanoindentation and nano-scratch tests were performed with
a Micro Materials NanoTest, details of which are provided
elsewhere [18], fitted with a high resolution NTX controller
enabling indentations at lower forces. Nanoindentation
was performed using a Berkovich indenter at applied loads
of 0.1–10 mN. Nano-scratch tests were performed with a
spheroconical diamond indenter of (3.1 ± 0.1) µm end radius.
The scratch tests were performed as multi-pass tests at
2 µm s−1 over a 150 µm track with (1) pre-scratch topographic
scan, (2) a levelling distance followed by a ramped scratch
and (3) a post-scratch low load scan. In the pre- and post-
scratch scan the applied load was sufficiently low (0.05 mN)
that no wear occurs (‘off-load scans’). In the ‘on-load’ scratch
scan the load was ramped after 20 µm travel at 2.5 mN s−1 to
reach 160 mN at the end of the scan. At least three repeat
tests were performed to test the reproducibility of scratch
behaviour. Additionally, the 20, 60 and 80 nm FCVA samples
were also tested with a (9.0 ± 0.1) µm end radius probe.
Conditions were as above except the loading rate was increased
to 8.0 mN s−1 so that the maximum load of 500 mN could be
reached within a 150 µm track length. The probe radii were
determined by spherical indentations into fused silica. There
was no evidence of any indenter wear after scratch testing.
3. Results
3.1. Nanoindentation
The variation in mechanical properties with increasing
indentation depth is shown in figure 1. It is clear from
figure 1 that the hardest samples tested were the 60 and 80 nm
ta-C films, with the 5 and 20 nm ta-C and the 70 nm a-C : H
films being closer to the silicon substrate and the two MoST
films being considerably softer. As the indentation depth
reaches ∼100 nm the mechanical response of all the thin film
systems becomes increasingly dominated by the Si substrate of
hardness of 11.5 GPa, and hence the hardness of all the coated
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301 B D Beake et al

(a)
ta-c
ta-c
ta-c
ta-c

(b)
ta-c
ta-c
ta-c
ta-c
r

Figure 2. Nano-scratch test on 60 nm ta-C film with 3.1 µm end

radius probe scanning over a 150 µm track at a scan speed of
(c) 2 µm/s. After 20 µm the load is ramped at 2.5 mN/s. A post-scratch
ta-c scan was performed over the same track to produce residual scratch
ta-c depth data. At 30 µm scan distance Ly = 11.2 mN; at 53 µm scan
ta-c
distance Lc1 = 40.0 mN and at 85 µm scan distance Lc2 (total film
ta-c
failure) = 79.9 mN.

figure 2. From the figure it is possible to observe three clear

transition points:
r

(i) At 30 µm scan distance Ly (critical load for the onset of

Figure 1. Variation in (a) hardness, (b) reduced modulus and
(c) hardness/reduced modulus (H /Er ) with contact depth from
nanoindentation tests.
systems approaches this value. The 70 nm a-C : H film was
softer than the Si substrate. The appearance of a minimum in
elastic modulus at around 20 nm on the 70 nm MoST film was
due to yield events occurring during the loading curves. These
yield events were absent on the 150 nm MoST film.
3.2. Nano-scratch testing
During analysis the scratch data were corrected for initial
sample slope/topography and machine compliance in the
instrument software. A typical scratch test with the 3.1 µm end
radius spheroconical probe on the 60 nm ta-C film is shown in
non-elastic behaviour, Ly = 11.2 mN).
(ii) At 53 µm scan distance Lc1 for the onset of edge cracking
(Lc1 = 40.0 mN).
(iii) At 85 µm scan distance Lc2 for total film failure (Lc2 =
79.9 mN).
These transitions were confirmed by microscopic analysis
of scratch tracks. The micrograph in figure 2 shows that the
reproducibility in critical load was good. Isolated substrate
exposure occurs within the scratch track between Lc1 and Lc2
on the 60 and 80 nm ta-C films. The total film removal at
Lc2 is accompanied by extensive deformation of the silicon
substrate and (slightly) wavy scratch tracks that are diagnostic
of failure in front of the probe. Figure 2 also shows that plastic
deformation of the silicon substrate occurs before total film
removal, as shown by residual depths greater than the film
thickness prior to Lc2 . After failure the probe can reach the
bottom of the scratch track. In contrast to ta-C, the CFUBMS a-
C : H showed a dark line at the edge of the scratch track after Lc1
and chevron cracks extending in front of the probe (figure 3).

3
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
Figure 3. Repeat nano-scratch tests on 70 nm a-C : H film.
The CFUBMS a-C : H exhibited lower elastic recovery than
the ta-C films of similar thickness.
The nano-scratch results with 3.1 µm end radius
spheroconical probe are summarized in figure 4. As can be
seen in figure 4, with the exception of the MoST samples, the
reproducibility in Lc2 values is excellent (typically ±3%). The
scatter in Lc1 and on the MoST samples is significant. The ratio
of critical load for yield to contact depth (Ly /dp ) was found to
be virtually constant for all films except the softer MoST.
4. Discussion
The increase in ta-C film hardness at a given indentation depth
with film thickness is a result of the higher sp3 /sp2 ratio in
the thicker films [21] and a reduced contribution from the
silicon substrate. The reduction in film hardness of the ta-C
and a-C : H films below ∼10–20 nm is a result of a non-
fully developed plastic zone in the thin films at these low
indentation forces, so that the measured mean contact pressure
is lower than the true film hardness. Similar behaviour has been
reported previously by Lemoine and co-workers [17]. Bull and
Korsunsky reported that for very thin DLC films no plastic
deformation of the film occurs before plastic deformation of
the Si substrate [22]. During indentation the film flexes and
bends into the hole produced by the substrate deformation, and
film damage is restricted to localized plasticity and cracking at
the edges of the indentation [22].
Previous studies on 200–1000 nm CFUBMS a-C [7], 150–
600 nm plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposited (PECVD)
Si : a-C : H [23] and PECVD a-C : H to 1500 nm [24] have
reported that the critical load for total film failure in the nano-
scratch test can be proportional to film thickness. For these
much thinner ta-C films, the critical load was also found to scale
with thickness (figure 7(a)). Figure 4 shows that although the
a-C : H was much softer than the FCVA this did not translate
into a significantly lower critical load. The critical load for film
4
B D Beake et al
Ly/mN
Lc1/mN
Lc2/mN
(a)
(b)
Figure 4. Nanoscratch results with 3.1 µm end radius spheroconical
probe: (a) Critical loads and (b) scratch probe penetration depth at
Lc2 failure.
failure is a function of both the film H /E and its thickness.
The lower elastic recovery during scratching shown by the a-
C : H film compared with the ta-C films of similar thickness is
correlated with its H /E ratio and was also observed for 50 nm
films by Lemoine and co-workers [17]. The ta-C films are
harder and more elastic (higher H /E).
The nano-scratch behaviour on the ta-C films is similar
to that reported previously with the 1100 and 1200 nm end
radius probes [12, 13]. Isolated substrate exposure between
Lc1 and Lc2 is consistent with previous SEM with EDX
analysis [17]. Extensive mixed ductile/brittle machining
of the silicon substrate and (slightly) wavy scratch tracks
observed after the Lc2 event is very similar to that reported
after total failure on testing thicker coatings such as Ti–Si–N
nanocomposites [25]. The use of the larger radius indenters
(3.1, 9.0 µm) proved beneficial for these thin films. In contrast
to previous studies with smaller indenters [15–18], the lower
critical load Lc1 can be determined directly from the scratch
traces without the necessity of SEM analysis and the critical
load for the complete film failure Lc2 remained within the
maximum load range of the test instrument (500 mN).
Constant load multi-pass scratch testing was first
described by Bull and Rickerby in 1989 [26] with the first
reported topography-ramped scratch-topography multi-pass
procedure described in detail by Wu in 1991 [27]. Although
commonplace in nano-scratching after that [17, 18, 28, 29],
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
it was not until after it was realized that it was possible to
remove instrument compliance from the measured deformation
that true nano-scratch and nanowear depth data could be
displayed [25, 30, 31]. Here we report a new method using
the ramped load multi-pass scratch method in conjunction
with well-defined spherical indenters that enables the yield
stresses and the pressure required for the failure of the film to
be estimated from contact mechanics, assuming the geometry
of indentation. As the indenters are spherical the contact depth
(hp ) in an indentation contact is given by [32, 33]
hp = (ht + hr )/2, (2)
where hp is the contact depth, ht is the on-load scratch depth
and hr is the residual depth from the final scan. The contact
radius (a) is determined from equation (3), where R is the
indenter radius:


a = (2Rhp − h2p ). (3)
It can then be compared with that determined from the
examination of the optical micrographs. Alternatively,
knowledge of scratch widths and contact depths gives an
independent estimate of the probe radius. In practice, the
measurements of the scratch widths are consistent with the
above treatment:
Pm = L/π a 2 . (4)
The contact pressure, Pm , at any point along the scratch
track is given by equation (4), where L is the applied load.
It is worth noting that equation (1) can be derived from
equations (2)–(4). To apply the approach in equations (2)–
(4) to the nano-scratch data it is necessary to assume (1)
the presence of a tangential load (µ = 0.05–0.15) does not
influence the pressure distribution too greatly, (2) the radius of
the probe is constant (R = 3.0–3.2 µm) and (3) sliding speed
is sufficiently slow (v = 2.0 µm s−1 ) that the load is supported
on the rear of the indenter (4) the indenter can reach the bottom
of the scratch track in the final topographic scan.
The contact pressures at the onset of non-elastic behaviour
(Py ) and at the total film failure have been estimated using the
above approach and are given in figure 5. The value of Py
obtained from the above analysis is close to 12 GPa on all
the films with the exception of the much softer MoST films.
The approximately constant value of Ly /dp on all the thin films
studied except MoST is then due to
their similar Py , suggesting
the Hertzian approximation, a ∼ 2Rhp [32], can be applied
when contact is elastic.
Interestingly, the yield pressure of Si is known to be very
close to this (around 11.3 GPa) [34]. Given the limitations of
the above geometry-based treatment, it seems that the initial
deformation on the hard films is indeed due to exceeding the
pressure required for substrate yield. The critical pressure
for phase transformation is around 12 GPa [35], close to
the yield pressure measured above. Yield of the silicon
substrate is expected to be by a complex combination of phase
transformation and conventional dislocation slip, as shown
by recent cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy
(XTEM) studies on bare [36] and coated [37] Si.
5
B D Beake et al
y
c2
Figure 5. Yield pressures from Hertzian analysis.
The contact radius calculated from equation (3) is in the
range 300–700 nm at the onset of yield. Maximum stresses
are generated at a distance of ∼0.5a under the surface in
a Hertzian indentation contact [19], which for these very
thin films is deep into the Si substrate, consistent with
substrate yield occurring initially as described above. At
much greater film thicknesses yield would be expected to
be within the coating not the substrate. For example, Haq
and co-workers have recently used XTEM to show [38] that
when a 1.6 µm thick radio-frequency plasma-assisted chemical
vapour deposited (RF PACVD) DLC on a Si substrate is
indented with a 5 µm probe the deformation at the lowest
load they studied (100 mN) is compression of the coating
and the substrate is not deformed. Whilst the presence of a
tangential load would be expected to lead to a less uniform
pressure distribution and result in the maximum stress shifting
towards the surface [39–41], it is likely that for the 5–80 nm
hard films, with measured friction coefficients of around 0.1–
0.15 at yield, that the yield would begin within the substrate.
For the FCVA films, the increase in contact pressure required
for total failure scales with film thickness (figure 5). Once
the silicon substrate yields, the subsequent deformation in the
hard elastic films appears to be very similar to that reported
by Bull and Korsunsky [22] for indentation—predominantly
localized cracking at the periphery of the contact radius rather
than plastic deformation.
The dependence on indenter radius for thin FCVA films
on Si substrate is illustrated for the 80 nm ta-C film in figure 6.
The same ta-C films have been tested using the 3.1 and 9.0 µm
probes in this study as in a previous study [18]. Examination of
the scratch track widths in [18] has revealed that the effective
radius of the indenter used in that study was only ∼1.1 µm
at the shallow depths required to fracture the ta-C films. The
nano-scratch data using the 1.1 µm probe on 20 and 60 nm ta-C
is in good agreement with data by Lemoine and co-workers
using a ∼1200 nm indenter on 10 and 50 nm ta-C films also
produced by FCVA [17] and 20 nm FCVA films tested by Li
and Bhushan with a ∼1 µm probe [16].
Ichimura and Ishii found [20] that the critical depth
in equation (1) varied with indenter radius in practice and
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 6. Nano-scratch tests on 80 nm ta-C film with different
probe radii R. (a) R = 9.0 µm (Lc2 = 376 mN), (b) R = 3.1 µm
(Lc2 = 91 mN) and (c) R = 1.1 µm (Lc2 = 7.5 mN).
therefore they suggested an expression (equation (5)) for the
variation in scratch test critical load with the indenter radius
of a similar exponential form to that originally proposed by
Steinmann and co-workers [42].
Lc = xR m , (5)
where x is a measure of the practical failure strength in
the scratch test and m is the dependence on indenter radius.
Ichimura and Ishii reported that when 100–400 µm indenters
were used for 2.2–2.8 µm thick films of TiN and CrN on
various steel substrates the exponent m was close to 1.2 [20].
6
B D Beake et al
(a)
(b)
Figure 7. (a) Variation in critical load Lc2 with film thickness for
FCVA films. (b) Variation in Lc2 critical load with probe radius R.
For the FCVA films, x was determined from figure 7(a)
and the exponent m adjusted to provide the best fit for all the
indenter radii used. The fit is not exact, the critical load data
are fitted reasonably by the approach in equation (5), though
values of m ∼ 1.7 are necessary to explain the observed strong
dependence on indenter radius as shown in figure 7(b). The
degree of elastic recovery at any point in the scratch test is
given by equation (6) where ht is the on-load scratch depth
and hr is the residual depth from the final scan.
Elastic recovery = 100%(ht − hr )/ ht . (6)
The degree of elastic recovery prior to failure decreases from
∼90% for the smallest indenter to only ∼75% for the larger
indenters. When using very small probes the films failed soon
after the onset on non-elastic deformation in the substrate but
with larger radius probes considerable substrate deformation
is possible (see below) without very high local curvature of
the film and its resultant cracking. This different deformation
behaviour appears to be responsible for the trend with critical
load. Despite the wide variation in critical load with radius this
does not translate to dramatically different contact pressures.
Using the method described above on the 80 nm ta-C, the
contact pressures at total film failure were estimated at 11 GPa,
14 GPa and 13 GPa, respectively, when using the 1.1 µm,
3.1 µm and 9.0 µm radii probes.
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
Figure 8. Scratch crack propagation resistance and scratch
durability ratio.
Film durability in mechanical contact is key to many
applications. Film durability parameters have been used to
assess the roles of film thickness and deposition route on film
durability. The 70 nm a-C : H and the 60 and 80 nm ta-C
films in particular appear to be quite durable; after Lc1 the
Si substrate undergoes plastic (not elastic) deformation—as
evidenced by the residual depth being greater than the film
thickness—before the films fail completely and the substrate
is exposed. Total failure of the 80 nm ta-C requires an applied
load of 91 mN, significantly higher than its Lc1 of 36 mN.
Various measures of film durability and toughness in
a scratch test have been proposed recently. Zhang and
co-workers have equated Lc1 with the resistance to the
initiation of cracks and (Lc2 − Lc1 ) as a measure of the
toughness [43, 44]. They defined a parameter representing
resistance to crack initiation and also propagation as
Scratch Crack Propagation Resistance = Lc1 (Lc2 − Lc1 ).
(7)
The assumption is that the crack systems are linked. Colligon
and co-workers recently proposed the dimensionless scratch
durability ratio given by equation (8) could be a suitable
parameter [45] for assessing film durability and toughness.
Scratch Durability Ratio = (Lc2 − Lc1 )/Lc1 . (8)
Equation (8) may enable comparison between critical
loads obtained with different indenters more easily due to
the normalizing effect of dividing by the lower critical load.
Values of both parameters are shown in figure 8. For a given
deposition method (FCVA) values of both indices increase
with film thickness. For a similar thickness range (60–80 nm),
values show some correlation with the ratio of film H /E. The
highest durability indices were observed on the 70 nm a-C : H
and the 80 nm ta-C films.
A distinct deterioration in scratch resistance has been
observed on hard relatively thick (>600 nm) films of
a-C : H [46], a-C [7], TiFeN [47] and TiSiN [25] on Si substrate
when H /Er is greater than about 0.1. Although the much
thinner FCVA films studied here are of similarly high H /E
7
B D Beake et al
they do not exhibit the same behaviour, showing that the effect
of film stress is less critical in these very low thickness films.
The thin films did not undergo stress-related delamination that
occurs behind the moving probe during nano-scratching of
thicker amorphous carbon films. Whilst the stress in ta-C is
known to increase with thickness this does not greatly affect
their scratch resistance over the range of thickness studied here.
The yield stress analysis presented above suggests the reason:
onset of yield is due to substrate deformation rather than film
failure. MoST films, popular in other applications due to
their low friction, may not be suitable as MEMS overcoats
as the deformation mechanism in contact involves substrate
yield and, being much softer than Si, they do not protect it
particularly well. In contrast, the 70 nm a-C : H, although
softer and lower H /E than the ta-C films of comparable
thickness provides reasonable scratch resistance and durability
and the opportunities for tailoring composition in CFUBMS
suggest harder, yet low stress, films deposited by this method
may find applications as MEMS overcoats.
5. Conclusions
1. A method of analysing nano-scratch data with spherical
indenters is proposed. The method suggests the onset of
non-elastic deformation in the nano-scratch test is due to
substrate yield rather than film deformation on all but the
softest films studied in this publication.
2. FCVA films were tested with probes of different radii
(1.1, 3.1 and 9.0 µm). The critical load for film failure
was found to vary with probe radius, roughly following
Lc ∝ R 1.7 . Greater plastic deformation of the Si substrate
is possible before total film failure with the larger radius
probes.
3. The 70 nm a-C : H deposited by CFUBMS, although
softer and lower H /E than the ta-C films of comparable
thickness provided reasonable scratch resistance and
durability.
4. The deposition of <100 nm amorphous carbon films on
Si could well be a promising strategy for improving
reliability of Si-based MEMS devices. None of the thin
films tested underwent stress-related delamination failures
that occur behind the indenter during the nano-scratch
testing of thicker amorphous carbon films.
Acknowledgments
Funding from the UK Department of Trade and Industry for
the BTIA Program Project CHBL/C/019/00024 (‘Contact’—
Creation Of Nano-Tribological Advanced Coating Technol-
ogy) is acknowledged. Provision of ta-C samples from
Professor Daniel Lau (Nanyang Technological University, Sin-
gapore) and CFUBMS samples from Dr Xiaoling Zhang and
Dr Kevin Cooke (both Teer Coatings Ltd) is acknowledged.
Dr Norbert Schwarzer (SIOMEC) and Professor Derek Arnell
(UCLAN, UK) are thanked for useful discussions.
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 065301
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