Beyond surface nanoindentation: Combining static and dynamic nanoindentation to assess intrinsic mechanical properties of chemical vapor deposition amorphous silicon oxide (SiOx) and silicon oxycarbide (SiOxCy) thin films

• Published in: Thin solid films 2021-10, Vol.735, p.138844, Article 138844
• Main Authors: Puyo, Maxime, Topka, Konstantina Christina, Diallo, Babacar, Laloo, Raphaël, Genevois, Cécile, Florian, Pierre, Sauvage, Thierry, Samelor, Diane, Senocq, François, Vergnes, Hugues, Caussat, Brigitte, Menu, Marie-Joëlle, Pellerin, Nadia, Vahlas, Constantin, Turq, Viviane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: chemical vapor deposition coatings; Intrinsic film properties; Mechanics; Mechanics of materials; Nanoindentation; Physics; Silicon oxide; Silicon oxycarbide; Thin films
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2021.138844

•Nanoindentation of SiOx and SiOxCy films with variable composition.•Mathematical models-coupled dynamic indentation removes substrate contribution.•Intrinsic modulus and hardness are determined, unbiased by the substrate.•High temperatures favor higher film properties via dehydration and demethylation.•Simple models are more robust than models with numerous parameters. Nanoindentation is a well-known technique to assess the mechanical properties of bulk materials and films. Despite that, nanoindentation of thin films is not straightforward, given that the measured properties are composite information from a film/substrate system and depend on the indentation depth. By using dynamic indentation experiments and analytical or empirical models, we assessed the intrinsic film properties of chemical vapor deposited silicon oxide (SiOx) and silicon oxycarbide (SiOxCy) thin films with thicknesses ranging from 60 to 700 nm. In this work, the Bec rheological model and several mixing laws were reviewed. Measured Young modulus appeared to be affected by the substrate properties more than hardness: for the thinnest films, moduli were measured at ca. 90 GPa whereas intrinsic moduli were calculated at ca. 50 GPa. Using calculated intrinsic film modulus and hardness, it was possible to establish correlations between these properties, the chemical composition and the structural organization of the films.