Deposition of ultra-thin gold film on in situ loaded polymeric substrate for compression tests

An original experimental approach is presented to test under compression ultra-thin films on compliant substrates. The sputtering chamber was modified to permit deposition of the film on an untreated polyimide substrate tensily stressed by a Deben™ device. Exploration of the compression response was made possible with the film being loaded, when unloading the polyimide dogbone substrates. The compression response of an ultra-thin film of gold (18.5 nm) deposited onto the elastically loaded substrate was investigated using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. In contrast to tensile loading reported in the literature, the elastic compression could be explored up to − 0.5% (− 440 MPa as compared to 290 MPa).

► We present an original experimental approach to test under compression ultra-thin films deposited on in situ loaded compliant substrates.
► Relaxing the global tensile load of such systems allows scrutinizing compression response of ultra-thin films.
► Elastic strains in ultra-thin gold film (18.5 nm) were measured by synchrotron x-ray diffraction, revealing a high deformation range in the elastic domain.