| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Grain Boundaries, Interfaces, and Surfaces: Fundamental Structure-Property-Performance Relationships
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| Presentation Title |
The Influence of Zr on the Dewetting of Cu-Zr Alloy Thin Films |
| Author(s) |
Wen-Yu Chen, Md Shariful Islam, Maarten P de Boer, Gregory S Rohrer, Elizabeth C Dickey |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Wen-Yu Chen |
| Abstract Scope |
Copper-zirconium alloys with small amounts of Zr (1 to 3 at. %) are stable nanocrystalline materials. Here we investigate the thermal stability of Cu-Zr thin films against dewetting. Cu-Zr films with 0-2.1 at. % Zr were deposited on silicon nitride substrates by room temperature co-sputtering with thicknesses of 50-100 nm, followed by annealing in a reducing environment at 500-850 °C for 10-30 min. The structure and morphology of the films were then studied by SEM and TEM. As found in the bulk nanocrystalline materials, the Zr segregated to the grain boundaries. However, at temperatures beyond 850 °C, the films agglomerated into copper-rich islands. Overall, increasing the Zr concentration in the alloy led to more stable films, yet the films are less stable against dewetting than the bulk materials are against grain growth. These findings indicate that transport at the surface and/or substrate-film interface dominates the morphological evolution of the films. |