Abstract
A simple method to measure the elastic modulus E and Poisson's ratio v of diamod-like carbon (DLC) films deposited on Si wafer was suggested. Using the anisotropic etching technique of Si we could make the edge of DLC overhang free from constraint of Si substrate. DLC film is chemically so inert that we could not on-serve any surface damage after the etching process. The edge of DLC overhang free from constraint of Si substrate exhibited periodic sinusoidal shape. By measuring the amplitude and the wavelength of the sinu-soidal edge we could determine the stain of the film required to adhere to the substrate. Since the residual stress of film can be determine independently by measurement of the curvature of film-substrate com-posite we could calculated the biaxial elastic modulus E/(1-v) using stress-strain relation of thin films. By comparing the biaxial elastic modulus with the plane-strain modulus E/(1-{{{{ { v}^{2 } }}) measured by nano-in-dentation we could further determine the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio independently. This method was employed to measure the mechanical properties of DLC films deposited by {{{{ { {C }_{6 }H }_{6 } }} rf glow discharge. The was elastic modulus E increased from 94 to 169 GPa as the {{{{ { V}_{ b} / SQRT { P} }} increased from 127 to 221 V/{{{{ {mTorr }^{1/2 } }} Poisson's ratio was estimated to be abou 0.16∼0.22 in this {{{{ { V}_{ b} / SQRT { P} }} range. For the {{{{ { V}_{ b} / SQRT { P} }} less than 127V/{{{{ {mTorr }^{1/2 } }} where the plastic deformation can occur by the substrate etching process however the present method could not be applied.
