Elastic Properties of Nano–Thin Films by Use of Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy

2009 ◽  
Vol 1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Kopycinska-Müller ◽  
Andre Striegler ◽  
Arnd Hürrich ◽  
Bernd Köhler ◽  
Norbert Meyendorf ◽  
...  

AbstractAtomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) is a non-destructive method able to determine the indentation modulus of a sample with high lateral and depth resolution. We used the AFAM technique to measure the indentation modulus of film-substrate systems Msam and then to extract the value of the indentation modulus of the film Mf. The investigated samples were films of silicon oxide thermally grown on silicon single crystal substrates by use of dry and wet oxidation methods. The thickness of the samples ranged from 7 nm to 28 nm as measured by ellipsometry. Our results clearly show that the values of Msam obtained for the film-substrate systems depended on the applied static load and the film thickness. The observed dependency was used to evaluate the indentation modulus of the film. The values obtained for Mf ranged from 77 GPa to 95 GPa and were in good agreement with values reported in the literature.

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
B. Zhang ◽  
H. Wagner ◽  
M. Büchsenschütz-Göbeler ◽  
Y. Luo ◽  
S. Küchemann ◽  
...  

Abstract For the past two decades, atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM), an advanced scanning probe microscopy technique, has played a promising role in materials characterization with a good lateral resolution at micro/nano dimensions. AFAM is based on inducing out-of-plane vibrations in the specimen, which are generated by an ultrasonic transducer. The vibrations are sensed by the AFM cantilever when its tip is in contact with the material under test. From the cantilver’s contactresonance spectra, one determines the real and the imaginary part of the contact stiffness k*, and then from these two quantities the local indentation modulus M' and the local damping factor Qloc-1 can be obtained with a spatial resolution of less than 10 nm. Here, we present measured data of M' and of Qloc-1 for the insulating amorphous material, a-SiO2. The amorphous SiO2 layer was prepared on a crystalline Si wafer by means of thermal oxidation. There is a spatial distribution of the indentation modulus M' and of the internal friction Qloc-1. This is a consequence of the potential energy landscape for amorphous materials.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 703-716
Author(s):  
Edgar Cruz Valeriano ◽  
José Juan Gervacio Arciniega ◽  
Christian Iván Enriquez Flores ◽  
Susana Meraz Dávila ◽  
Joel Moreno Palmerin ◽  
...  

In this work, a high-resolution atomic force acoustic microscopy imaging technique is developed in order to obtain the local indentation modulus at the nanoscale level. The technique uses a model that gives a qualitative relationship between a set of contact resonance frequencies and the indentation modulus. It is based on white-noise excitation of the tip–sample interaction and uses system theory for the extraction of the resonance modes. During conventional scanning, for each pixel, the tip–sample interaction is excited with a white-noise signal. Then, a fast Fourier transform is applied to the deflection signal that comes from the photodiodes of the atomic force microscopy (AFM) equipment. This approach allows for the measurement of several vibrational modes in a single step with high frequency resolution, with less computational cost and at a faster speed than other similar techniques. This technique is referred to as stochastic atomic force acoustic microscopy (S-AFAM), and the frequency shifts of the free resonance frequencies of an AFM cantilever are used to determine the mechanical properties of a material. S-AFAM is implemented and compared with a conventional technique (resonance tracking-atomic force acoustic microscopy, RT-AFAM). A sample of a graphite film on a glass substrate is analyzed. S-AFAM can be implemented in any AFM system due to its reduced instrumentation requirements compared to conventional techniques.


2007 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Passeri ◽  
A. Bettucci ◽  
M. Germano ◽  
M. Rossi ◽  
A. Alippi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 767-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Kalyan Phani ◽  
Anish Kumar ◽  
T Jayakumar ◽  
Walter Arnold ◽  
Konrad Samwer

The distribution of elastic stiffness and damping of individual phases in an α + β titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) measured by using atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) is reported in the present study. The real and imaginary parts of the contact stiffness k * are obtained from the contact-resonance spectra and by using these two quantities, the maps of local elastic stiffness and the damping factor are derived. The evaluation of the data is based on the mass distribution of the cantilever with damped flexural modes. The cantilever dynamics model considering damping, which was proposed recently, has been used for mapping of indentation modulus and damping of different phases in a metallic structural material. The study indicated that in a Ti-6Al-4V alloy the metastable β phase has the minimum modulus and the maximum damping followed by α′- and α-phases. Volume fractions of the individual phases were determined by using a commercial material property evaluation software and were validated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) studies on one of the heat-treated samples. The volume fractions of the phases and the modulus measured through AFAM are used to derive average modulus of the bulk sample which is correlated with the bulk elastic properties obtained by ultrasonic velocity measurements. The average modulus of the specimens estimated by AFAM technique is found to be within 5% of that obtained by ultrasonic velocity measurements. The effect of heat treatments on the ultrasonic attenuation in the bulk sample could also be understood based on the damping measurements on individual phases using AFAM.


2005 ◽  
Vol 76 (9) ◽  
pp. 093904 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Passeri ◽  
A. Bettucci ◽  
M. Germano ◽  
M. Rossi ◽  
A. Alippi ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 838 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Hurley ◽  
A. B. Kos ◽  
P. Rice

ABSTRACTWe describe a dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) method to map the nanoscale elastic properties of surfaces, thin films, and nanostructures. Our approach is based on atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) techniques previously used for quantitative measurements of elastic properties at a fixed sample position. AFAM measurements determine the resonant frequencies of an AFM cantilever in contact mode to calculate the tip-sample contact stiffness k*. Local values for elastic properties such as the indentation modulus M can be determined from k* with the appropriate contact-mechanics models. To enable imaging at practical rates, we have developed a frequency-tracking circuit based on digital signal processor architecture to rapidly locate the contact-resonance frequencies at each image position. We present contact-resonance frequency images obtained using both flexural and torsional cantilever images as well as the corresponding vertical contact-stiffness (k*) image calculated from flexural frequency images. Methods to obtain elastic-modulus images of M from vertical contact-stiffness images are also discussed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Cruz-Valeriano ◽  
J J Gervacio Arciniega ◽  
M A Hernández Landaverde ◽  
Christian I Enriquez-Flores ◽  
Yuri Chipatecua ◽  
...  

In this work, a high-resolution Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy imaging technique is shown in order to obtain the local indentation modulus at nanoscale using a model which gives a quantitative relationship between a set of contact resonance frequencies and indentation modulus through a white-noise excitation. This technique is based on white-noise excitation for system identification due to non-linearities in the tip-sample interaction. During a conventional scanning, a Fast Fourier Transform is applied to the deflection signal which comes from the photo-diodes of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for each pixel, while the tip-sample interaction is excited by a white-noise signal. This approach allows the measurement of several vibrational modes in a single step with high frequency resolution, less computational data and at a faster speed than other similar techniques. This technique is referred to as Stochastic Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy (S-AFAM), where the frequency shifts with respect to free resonance frequencies for an AFM cantilever can be used to determine the mechanical properties of a material. S-AFAM is implemented and compared to a conventional technique (Resonance Tracking-Atomic Force Microscopy, RT-AFAM), where a graphite film over a glass substrate sample is analyzed. S-AFAM can be implemented in any AFM system due to its reduced instrumentation compared to conventional techniques.


Author(s):  
O. Diaz de Leon ◽  
M. Nassirian ◽  
C. Todd ◽  
R. Chowdhury

Abstract Integration of circuits on semiconductor devices with resulting increase in pin counts is driving the need for improvements in packaging for functionality and reliability. One solution to this demand is the Flip- Chip concept in Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) applications [1]. The flip-chip technology is based on the direct attach principle of die to substrate interconnection.. The absence of bondwires clearly enables packages to become more slim and compact, and also provides higher pin counts and higher-speeds [2]. However, due to its construction, with inherent hidden structures the Flip-Chip technology presents a challenge for non-destructive Failure Analysis (F/A). The scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) has recently emerged as a valuable evaluation tool for this purpose [3]. C-mode scanning acoustic microscope (C-SAM), has the ability to demonstrate non-destructive package analysis while imaging the internal features of this package. Ultrasonic waves are very sensitive, particularly when they encounter density variations at surfaces, e.g. variations such as voids or delaminations similar to air gaps. These two anomalies are common to flip-chips. The primary issue with this package technology is the non-uniformity of the die attach through solder ball joints and epoxy underfill. The ball joints also present defects as open contacts, voids or cracks. In our acoustic microscopy study packages with known defects are considered. It includes C-SCAN analysis giving top views at a particular package interface and a B-SCAN analysis that provides cross-sectional views at a desired point of interest. The cross-section analysis capability gives confidence to the failure analyst in obtaining information from a failing area without physically sectioning the sample and destroying its electrical integrity. Our results presented here prove that appropriate selection of acoustic scanning modes and frequency parameters leads to good reliable correlation between the physical defects in the devices and the information given by the acoustic microscope.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Brand ◽  
Matthias Petzold ◽  
Peter Czurratis ◽  
Peter Hoffrogge

Abstract In industrial manufacturing of microelectronic components, non-destructive failure analysis methods are required for either quality control or for providing a rapid fault isolation and defect localization prior to detailed investigations requiring target preparation. Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) is a powerful tool enabling the inspection of internal structures in optically opaque materials non-destructively. In addition, depth specific information can be employed for two- and three-dimensional internal imaging without the need of time consuming tomographic scan procedures. The resolution achievable by acoustic microscopy is depending on parameters of both the test equipment and the sample under investigation. However, if applying acoustic microscopy for pure intensity imaging most of its potential remains unused. The aim of the current work was the development of a comprehensive analysis toolbox for extending the application of SAM by employing its full potential. Thus, typical case examples representing different fields of application were considered ranging from high density interconnect flip-chip devices over wafer-bonded components to solder tape connectors of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel. The progress achieved during this work can be split into three categories: Signal Analysis and Parametric Imaging (SA-PI), Signal Analysis and Defect Evaluation (SA-DE) and Image Processing and Resolution Enhancement (IP-RE). Data acquisition was performed using a commercially available scanning acoustic microscope equipped with several ultrasonic transducers covering the frequency range from 15 MHz to 175 MHz. The acoustic data recorded were subjected to sophisticated algorithms operating in time-, frequency- and spatial domain for performing signal- and image analysis. In all three of the presented applications acoustic microscopy combined with signal- and image processing algorithms proved to be a powerful tool for non-destructive inspection.


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