Thin films are used in a variety of industries to provide specific electronic, optical, thermal, tribological, and passivation characteristics. Typically films in this thickness range are deposited using complex gaseous, vapor, or plasma processes. Tight control and optimization of thin film of deposition parameters are required to obtain films with desired properties. The ability to measure and understand thin film mechanical and tribological properties is critical for continued materials development and process integration.
Bruker has developed a versatile suite of nanomechanical and nanotribological characterization techniques for thin film characterization. A variety of nanoindentation techniques are available to quantitatively measure the modulus, hardness, fracture toughness, creep, stress relaxation, and viscoelastic properties of thin films under several environmental conditions. Combining high precision test placement accuracy with mechanical property depth profiling capabilities enable a comprehensive understanding of thin film structure, property, processing, and performance relationships. Patented thin films analysis models subtract substrate effects from the measured film/substrate response to provide intrinsic thin film elastic properties. Additionally, highly sensitive two dimensional transducer technologies deliver reliable nanoscale tribological characterization and quantitative thin film interfacial adhesion measurements.
