| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1664677 | Thin Solid Films | 2015 | 9 Pages |
•Cyclic-loading dual-indentation for measuring interfacial adhesion•Breaking the “tough” interface without weakening the interfacial property•Hardening effect on the indented film induced by cyclic loading•Stored elastic energy in the hardened film drives delamination
Our previous study developed a dual-indentation method for testing the interfacial energy release rate, Gin, of the SiN/GaAs film/substrate systems. However, for the film/substrate systems with relatively high interfacial toughness, the dual-indentation method was unable to generate interfacial delamination. In this study, a cyclic loading dual-indentation method was proposed, in which the first monotonic loading in the dual-indentation method was replaced by cyclic loading. It was demonstrated that cyclic loading was effective at inducing delamination in relatively “tough” SiN/GaAs interfaces that were unable to be delaminated by dual-indentation method. The Gin values obtained from the cyclic loading indentation were in good agreement with those obtained from the dual-indentation method for the less tough interfaces. The delamination mechanism in the cyclic loading indentation was attributed to the hardening effect on the films induced by cyclic loading, permitting sufficient elastic strain energy to be accumulated to initiate the delamination.
