Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1445343 | Acta Materialia | 2015 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
The mechanical properties, thermal stability, and electrical performance of Au-ZnO composite thin films are determined in this work. The co-deposition of ZnO with Au via physical vapor deposition leads to grain refinement over that of pure Au; the addition of 0.1 vol.% ZnO reduces the as-grown grain size by over 30%. The hardness of the as-grown films doubles with 2% ZnO, from 1.8 to 3.6 GPa as measured by nanoindentation. Films with ZnO additions greater than 0.5% show no significant grain growth after annealing at 350 °C, while pure gold and smaller additions do exhibit grain growth and subsequent mechanical softening. Films with 1% and 2% ZnO show a decrease of approximately 50% in electrical resistivity and no change in hardness after annealing. A model accounting for both changes in the interface structure between dispersed ZnO particles and the Au matrix captures the changes in mechanical and electrical resistivity. The addition of 1-2% ZnO co-deposited with Au provides a method to create mechanically hard and thermally stable films with a resistivity less than 80 nΩ-m. These results complement previous studies of other alloying systems, suggesting oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) gold shows a desirable hardness-resistivity relationship that is relatively independent of the particular ODS chemistry.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Ceramics and Composites
Authors
R.L. Schoeppner, R.S. Goeke, N.R. Moody, D.F. Bahr,