Fracture of nanoscale copper films on elastomer substrates

This letter describes the evolution of crack spacing in copper films (bonded to elastomer substrates) as a function of applied strain. Tension tests were conducted on cast poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrates coated with sputtered copper films with 200-600 nm thickness. Optical microscopy was used to m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2009-12, Vol.95 (23), p.231914-231914-3
Main Authors: Begley, Matthew R., Scott, Orion N., Utz, Marcel, Bart-Smith, Hilary
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:This letter describes the evolution of crack spacing in copper films (bonded to elastomer substrates) as a function of applied strain. Tension tests were conducted on cast poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrates coated with sputtered copper films with 200-600 nm thickness. Optical microscopy was used to measure the spacings between parallel cracks (normal to the tension direction) at various levels of applied strain in the range of 0.01%-10%. The measured relationships between applied strain and crack spacing are predicted by micromechanical models of behavior between cracks; the experiments indicate G c ∼ 400 - 600   J / m 2 with an implied defect spacing of ∼ 100 - 600   μ m . These values are consistent with the theoretical work that is dissipated during necking instabilities during plastic deformation.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.3268458