Analysis of micro-indentation problem of a soft film on a hard substrate

Two stages have been observed in micro-indentation experiment of a soft film on a hard substrate. In the first stage, the hardness of the thin film decreases with increasing depth of indentation when indentation is shallow; and in the second stage, the hardness of the film increases with increasing depth of indentation when the indenter tip approaches the hard substrate. In this paper, the new strain gradient theory is used to analyze the micro-indentation behavior of a soft film on a hard substrate. Meanwhile, the classic plastic theory is also applied to investigating the problem. Comparing two theoretical results with the experiment data, one can find that the strain gradient theory can describe the experiment data at both the shallow and deep indentation depths quite well, while the classic theory can't explain the experiment results.

An automatic imaging spectroscopic ellipsometer for characterization of nano-film pattern on solid substrate

In order to characterize the physical and spatial properties of nano-film pattern on solid substrates, an automatic imaging spectroscopic ellipsometer (ISE) based on a polarizer - compensator - specimen - analyzer configuration in the visible region is presented. It can provide the spectroscopic ellipsometric parameters psi (x, y, lambda) and Delta (x, y, lambda) of a large area specimen with a lateral resolution in the order of some microns. A SiO2 stepped layers pattern is used to demonstrate the function of the ISE which shows potential application in thin film devices' such as high-throughput bio-chips.

A special method to evaluate the strong adhesion between brittle coating and ductile substrate

The evaluation of the interfacial adhesion of coating system has always been a rough task. In this paper, a special testing method of cross-sectional indentation is applied on a model coating system, i.e. electroplated chromium on a steel substrate which is generally regarded as an example of materials pair with strong adhesion. Based on fractography analysis with SEM and interfacial stress simulation with FEM, it is found that interfacial shear stress may induce coating spalling. More interestingly, spalling location is sensitive to substrate pretreatment process. This shows the feasibility of cross-sectional indentation to distinguish interfacial strength at a high level.

Determination Of Interfacial Properties Between Metal Film And Ceramic Substrate With An Adhesive Layer

Peel test measurements and inverse analysis to determine the interfacial mechanical parameters for the metal film/ceramic system are performed, considering that there exist an epoxy interface layer between film and ceramic. In the present investigation, Al films with a series of thicknesses between 20 and 250 mu m and three peel angles of 90, 135 and 180 degrees are considered. A finite element model with the cohesive zone elements is used to simulate the peel test process. The finite element results are taken as the training data of a neural network in the inverse analysis. The interfacial cohesive energy and the separation strength can be determined based on the inverse analysis and peel experimental result. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development And Application Of Flexible Substrate Sensors In Instantaneous Heat Flux Measurement

A new type of sensor with the flexible substrate is introduced. It is applicable in measuring instantaneous heat flux on the model surface in a hypersonic shock tunnel. The working principle, structure and manufacture process of the sensor are presented. The substrate thickness and the dynamic response parameter of the sensor are calculated. Because this sensor was successfully used in measuring the instantaneous heat flux on the surface of a flat plate in a detonation-driven shock tunnel, it may be effective in measuring instantaneous heat flux on the model surface.

Micromachining Of Passive Planar Micromixer On Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) Substrate With Excimer Laser Ablation

Excimer laser ablation technique was introduced into this work to fabricate a passive planar micromixer on the PMMA substrate. T-junction shaped and width-changed S-shaped microchannels were both designed in this micromixer to enhance mixing effect. The mixing experiment of distilled water and Rhodamine B with injection flow rate of 500 and 1,500 mu m/s validates the mixing effectivity of this micromixer, and indicates the feasibility of excimer laser ablation in the microfabrication of mu-TAS device.

Interface Fracture Behavior Of Electroplated Coating On Metal Substrate Under Compressive Strain

The inducement of interface fracture is crucial to the analysis of interfacial adhesion between coating and substrate. For electroplated coating/metal substrate adhering materials with strong adhesion, interface cracking and coating spalling are difficult to be induced by conventional methods. In this paper an improved bending test named as T-bend test was conducted on a model coating system, i.e. electroplated chromium on a steel substrate. After the test, cross-sections of the coated materials were prepared to compare the failure behaviors under tensile strain and compressive strain induced by T-bend test. And the observation results show that coating cracking, interface cracking and partial spalling appear step by step. Based on experimental results, a new method may be proposed to rank the coated materials with strong inter-facial adhesion. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EVALUATION OF FILM-SUBSTRATE ADHESION VIA IMPACT USING COATED BULLETS

A method was devised to evaluate the adhesion between a film and a substrate. A front-end coated bullet is accelerated by a gas gun and hits the substrate of the specimen under test. The impact generates a compressive stress pulse that propagates toward the film. After transmission through the interface, part of the pulse is reflected on the free surface of the film, and tensile stress arises at the film-substrate interface, possibly inducing debonding of the film. This dynamic process was demonstrated analytically and simulated numerically by the finite element method. The results validate the initial concept and lay the foundation for further optimization of this method.

On a novel method of impact by a front-end-coated bullet to evaluate the interface adhesion between film and substrate

A preliminary experiment was carried out to validate the feasibility of the method of impact by a front-end-coated bullet to evaluate the interface adhesion between film and substrate. The theoretical description of the initiation, propagation and evolution of the stress pulse during impact was generalized and formulized. The effects of the crucial parameters on the interface stress were further investigated with FEM. The results found the promising prospect of the application of such a method and provided useful guidance for experimental design.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing

We report the fabrication of a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with a controllable enhancement factor (EF) using femtosecond laser direct writing on Ag+-doped phosphate glass followed by chemical plating at similar to 40 degrees C. Silver seeds were first photoreduced using a femtosecond laser in a laser-irradiated area and then transformed into silver nanoparticles of suitable size for SERS application in the subsequent chemical plating. Rhodamine 6G was used as a probing molecule to investigate the enhancement effect of a Raman signal on the substrate. Nearly homogenous enhancement of the Raman signal over the Substrate was achieved, and the EF of the substrate was controlled to some extent by adjusting fabrication parameters. Moreover, the ability of forming a SERS platform in an embedded microfluidic chamber would be of great use for establishing a compact lab-on-a-chip device based on Raman analysis.

Effects of sapphire substrate annealing on ZnO epitaxial films grown by MOCVD

The annealing effects of sapphire substrate on the quality of epitaxial ZnO films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were studied. The atomic steps formed on (0 0 0 1) sapphire (alpha-Al2O3) substrate surface by annealing at high temperature was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The annealing effects of sapphire substrate on the ZnO films were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), AFM and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Experimental results indicate that the film quality is strongly affected by annealing treatment of the sapphire substrate surface., The optimum annealing temperature of sapphire substrates is given. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.