Synthesis and characterization of Au–Ta nanocomposites for nanomechanical cantilever devices

A gold-tantalum nanocomposite material synthesized using a co-sputtering technique and designed specifically for nanomechanical systems applications is reported. X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nanoindentation and four-point probe contact measurements were p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanotechnology 2007-09, Vol.18 (35), p.355303-355303 (7)
Main Authors: Nelson-Fitzpatrick, N, Ophus, C, Luber, E, Gervais, L, Lee, Z, Radmilovic, V, Mitlin, D, Evoy, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A gold-tantalum nanocomposite material synthesized using a co-sputtering technique and designed specifically for nanomechanical systems applications is reported. X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nanoindentation and four-point probe contact measurements were performed to characterize the bulk and surface characteristics of the films. The films exhibited an increased reduced modulus and hardness as well as a significant grain size reduction while retaining the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of pure gold with a very strong texture. In addition, the mechanical characterization of a number of 800 nm wide, 50 nm thick Au-5 at.% Ta cantilevers was performed using optical interferometry. Such devices exhibited resonant frequencies ranging from 371 kHz to 10.9 MHz, with resonant qualities as high as Q = 640.
ISSN:0957-4484
1361-6528
DOI:10.1088/0957-4484/18/35/355303