Hydrogen effect on fracture toughness of thin film/substrate interfaces

The effect of hydrogen on the interface fracture toughness of two nano-film/substrate structures, Ni/Si and Cu/Si, were evaluated using four-point bend specimens with and without hydrogen charging. Hydrogen typically decreases the fracture toughness of materials. However, we found in this study that the interfacial toughness between the Ni film and the Si substrate increased due to the presence of hydrogen, while that of Cu/Si decreased. Nanoindentation experiments for the Ni and Cu films revealed that local plasticity in the Ni and Cu films is promoted by the charged hydrogen. The critical stress intensity at the Ni/Si interface crack considering the plasticity of Ni, namely the true fracture toughness, is scarcely influenced by the existence of hydrogen. The apparent increase in fracture toughness of the Ni/Si interface is due to the large stress relaxation near the crack tip caused by softening due to the presence of hydrogen. Although the promotion of plastic deformation of Cu relaxes the stress intensity at the Cu/Si interface crack, the apparent interfacial toughness still decreases because of the significant decrease in the true toughness due to the presence of hydrogen.