Nanotwin-enhanced fatigue resistance of ultrathin Ag films for flexible electronics applications

Fatigue strength and cracking behavior of ultrathin Ag films on flexible polyimide substrates were investigated. The experimental results show that the enhanced fatigue strength of the 50 nm-thick Ag films not only is caused by the increase in the yield stress and the suppression of cyclic strain localization, but also results from the severe crack deflection induced by the formation of nanotwins, which delays the fatigue crack initiation and enhances the resistance to the fatigue crack growth. The fatigue cracking mechanism for the nanocrystalline metal films is evaluated.