Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-rz4zl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-09-14T13:24:46.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fracture size effect in ultrananocrystalline diamond: Applicability of Weibull theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

B. Peng ,
C. Li ,
N. Moldovan ,
H.D. Espinosa ,
X. Xiao ,
O. Auciello  and
J.A. Carlisle
B. Peng
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111
C. Li
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111
N. Moldovan
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111
H.D. Espinosa*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111
X. Xiao
Affiliation:
Materials Science Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439
O. Auciello*
Affiliation:
Materials Science Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439
J.A. Carlisle
Affiliation:
Materials Science Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: espinosa@northwestern.edu
b) This author was an editor of this journal during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of articles authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/jmr_policy.
Get access

Abstract

An analysis of size effects and doping on the strength of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin films is presented. The doping was achieved by the addition of nitrogen gas to the Ar/CH4 microwave plasma. The strength data, obtained by means of the membrane deflection experiment (MDE) were interpreted using Weibull statistics. The validity and predictive capability of the theory were examined in conjunction with detailed fractographic and transmission electron microscopy microstructural analysis. The Weibull parameters were estimated nonlinear regression based on 480 tests when the specimen volume varied from 500 to 16,000 μm3. Both undoped and doped UNCD films exhibited a decrease in strength with an increase in specimen size. A significant drop in strength was measured when the films were doped with nitrogen. Such a drop was almost independent of the percentage of doping. The results also showed that one can predict the fracture strength of a component possessing any arbitrary volume to within ±3%. Moreover, the failure mode of UNCD was found to be volume controlled. We also report changes in Young’s modulus as a function of doping for n-doped UNCD thin films.

Keywords

DiamondFractureNanostructure

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , April 2007 , pp. 913 - 925
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

1Weibull, W.: A statistical theory of the strength of materials. Proc. R. Swedish Inst. Eng. Res. 151, 1 (1939).Google Scholar
2Weibull, W.: A statistical distribution function of wide applicability. J. Appl. Mech. 18, 293 (1951).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Bagdahn, J., Sharpe, W.N. Jr., and Jadaan, O.: Fracture strength of polysilicon at stress concentrations. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 12, 302 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Sharpe, W.N. Jr., Jackson, K.M., Kevin, J.H., and Xie, Z.: Effect of specimen size on Young’s modulus and fracture strength of polysilicon. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 10, 317 (2001).Google Scholar
5LaVan, D.A., Tsuchiya, T., Coles, G., Knauss, W.G., Chasiotis, I., and Read, D.: Cross comparison of direct strength testing techniques on polysilicon films, in Mechanical Properties of Structural Films, edited by Muhlstein, C. and Brown, S.B. (American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA, 2001).Google Scholar
6LaVan, D.A., Jackson, K., Glass, S.J., Friedmann, T.A., Sullivan, J.P., and Buchheit, T.: Direct tension and fracture toughness testing using the lateral force capabilities of a nanomechanical test system, in Mechanical Properties of Structural Films, edited by Muhlstein, C. and Brown, S.B. (American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA, 2001).Google Scholar
7Jackson, K.M., Dunning, J., Zorman, C.A., Mehregany, M., and Sharpe, W.N. Jr.: Mechanical properties of epitaxial 3C silicon carbide thin films. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 14, 664 (2005).Google Scholar
8Espinosa, H.D., Peng, B., Prorok, B.C., Moldovan, N., Auciello, O., Carlisle, J.A., Gruen, D.M., and Mancini, D.C.: Fracture strength of ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films—Identification of Weibull parameters. J. Appl. Phys. 94, 6076 (2003).Google Scholar
9Espinosa, H.D., Prorok, B.C., Peng, B., Kim, K.H., Moldovan, N., Auciello, O., Carlisle, J.A., Gruen, D.M., and Mancini, D.C.: Mechanical properties of ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films relevant to MEMS/NEMS devices. Experimental Mechanics 43, 256 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Chasiotis, I. and Knauss, W.G.: The mechanical strength of polysilicon films: Part 1. The influence of fabrication governed surface conditions. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 51, 1553 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Chasiotis, I. and Knauss, W.G.: The mechanical strength of polysilicon films: Part 2. Size effects associated with elliptical and circular perforations. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 51, 1551 (2003).Google Scholar
12Chen, K.S., Ayon, A., and Spearing, S.M.: Controlling and testing the fracture strength of silicon on the mesoscale. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 83, 1476 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Tsuchiya, T., Sakata, J., and Taga, Y.: Tensile strength and fracture toughness of surface micromachined polycrystalline silicon thin films prepared under various conditions, in Thin-Films—Stresses and Mechanical Properties VII, edited by Cammarata, R.C., Nastasi, M., Busso, E.P. and Oliver, W.C. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 505, Warrendale, PA, 1998), pp. 285–290.Google Scholar
14Read, D.T., McColskey, J.D., Geiss, R., and Cheng, Y.W.: Microtensile testing of thin films in the optical and scanning electron microscopes, in Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, edited by Seiler, D.G. and Diebold, A.C. (AIP Conference Proceedings 683, 2003), pp. 353–356.Google Scholar
15Gruen, D.M.: Nanocrystalline diamond films. Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 29, 211 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Zhou, D., McCauley, T.G., Qin, L.C., Krauss, A.R., and Gruen, D.M.: Synthesis of nanocrystalline diamond thin film from an Ar–CH4 microwave plasma. J. Appl. Phys. 83, 540 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Auciello, O., Birrell, J., Carlisle, J.A., Gerbi, J.E., Xiao, X., Peng, B., and Espinosa, H.D.: Materials science and fabrication processes for a new MEMS technology based on ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 16, R539 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Sumant, A.V., Grierson, D.S., Gerbi, J.E., Birrell, J., Lanke, U.D., Auciello, O., Carlisle, J.A., and Carpick, R.W.: Toward the ultimate tribological interface: surface chemistry and nanotribology of ultrananocrystalline diamond. Adv. Mater. 17, 1039 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Erdemir, A., Fenske, G.R., Krauss, A.R., Gruen, D.M., McCauley, T., and Csencsits, R.T.: Tribological properties of nanocrystalline diamond films. Surf. Coat. Technol. 120, 565 (1999).Google Scholar
20Krauss, A.R., Auciello, O., Ding, M.Q., Gruen, D.M., Huang, Y., Zhirnov, V.V., Givargizov, E.I., Breskin, A., Chechen, R., Shefer, E., Konov, V., Pimenov, S., Karabutov, A., Rakhimov, A., and Suetin, N.: Electron field emissions for ultrananocrystalline diamond films. J. Appl. Phys. 89, 2958 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Bhattacharyya, B., Auciello, O., Birrell, J., Carlisle, J.A., Curtiss, L.A., Goyette, A.N., Gruen, D.M., Krauss, A.R., Schlueter, J., Suman, A., and Zapol, P.: Synthesis and characterization of highly-conducting nitrogen doped ultrananocrystalline diamond films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 1441 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Birrell, J., Carlisle, J.A., Auciello, O., Gruen, D.M., and Gibson, J.M.: Morphology and electronic structure in nitrogen-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond. Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 2235 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Yang, W., Auciello, O., Butler, J.E., Cai, W., Carlisle, J.A., Gerbi, J.E., Gruen, D.M., Knickerbocker, T., Lasseter, T.L., Russell, J.N., Smith, L.M., and Hamers, R.J.: DNA-modified nanocrystalline diamond thin-films as stable, biologically active substrates. Nat. Mater. 1, 253 (2002).Google Scholar
24Kim, K-H., Moldovan, N., Ke, C., Espinosa, H.D., Xiao, X., Carlisle, J.A., and Auciello, O.: Novel ultrananocrystalline diamond probes for high-resolution low-wear nanolithographic techniques. Small 1, 866 (2005).Google Scholar
25Espinosa, H.D., Prorok, B.C., and Fisher, M.: A methodology for determining mechanical properties of freestanding thin films and MEMS materials. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 51, 47 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Weibull, W.: The phenomenon of rupture in solids. Proc. R. Swedish Inst. Eng. Res. 153, 1 (1939).Google Scholar
27Bazant, Z.P., Zhou, Y., Novak, D., and Daniel, I.M.: Size effect on flexural strength of fiber-composite laminates. J. Eng. Mater. Technol. 126, 29 (2004).Google Scholar
28Johnson, C.A. and Tucker, W.T.: Advanced statistical concepts of fracture in brittle materials. Eng. Mater. Handbook, Ceram. Glasses 4, 709 (1991).Google Scholar
29Pugno, N., Peng, B., and Espinosa, H.D.: Prediction of strength in MEMS components with defects—A novel experimental-theoretical approach. Int. J. Solid Struct. 42, 647 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Espinosa, H.D. and Peng, B.: A new methodology to investigate fracture toughness of freestanding MEMS and advanced materials in thin film form. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 14, 153 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar