D. Faurie

In situ diffraction strain analysis of elastically deformed polycrystalline thin films, and micromechanical interpretation

In situ tensile tests have been carried out under synchrotron radiation on supported gold (Au) thin films exhibiting a pronounced crystallographic texture. The 2θ shift of X-ray diffraction lines has been recorded for different specimen orientations and several loading levels in the elastic domain. The data obtained demonstrate the large strain heterogeneities generated within the specimen because of the intergranular interactions associated with the large elastic anisotropy of Au grains. To interpret these results, the use of a multi-scale micromechanical approach is unavoidable. The theoretical background of such methods is described, and the points where exact results can be obtained and where approximations have to be introduced are highlighted. It is shown that the Vook–Witt model, for which a general formulation is provided, is the exact solution for polycrystals exhibiting a laminate microstructure, which is a significant departure from the standard thin-film microstructures. Among several standard models used in the field, the self-consistent model is the only one that reproduces the experimental data correctly. This is achieved by accounting for the actual crystallographic texture of the specimen, and assuming pancake-shaped two-point statistics for the morphological texture. A discussion of the limitations of this approach, originally developed for bulk materials, is given for the specific case of thin films.

Development of a synchrotron biaxial tensile device for in situ characterization of thin films mechanical response

We have developed on the DIFFABS-SOLEIL beamline a biaxial tensile machine working in the synchrotron environment for in situ diffraction characterization of thin polycrystalline films mechanical response. The machine has been designed to test compliant substrates coated by the studied films under controlled, applied strain field. Technological challenges comprise the sample design including fixation of the substrate ends, the related generation of a uniform strain field in the studied (central) volume, and the operations from the beamline pilot. Preliminary tests on 150 nm thick W films deposited onto polyimide cruciform substrates are presented. The obtained results for applied strains using x-ray diffraction and digital image correlation methods clearly show the full potentialities of this new setup.

Elastic-strain distribution in metallic film-polymer substrate composites

Synchrotron x-ray radiation was used for in situstrain measurements during uniaxial tests on polymer substrates coated by a metallic goldfilm 400 nm thick deposited without interlayer or surface treatment. X-ray diffraction allowed capturing both components elastic strains and determining how these were partitioned between the metallic film and the polymeric substrate. For strains below 0.8%, deformation is continuous through the metal-polymer interface while above, the onset of plasticity in the metallic film induces a shift between film and substrate elastic strains.

Combined synchrotron X-ray and image-correlation analyses of biaxially deformed W/Cu nanocomposite thin films on Kapton

Abstract In-situ biaxial tensile tests within the elastic domain were conducted with W/Cu nanocomposite thin films deposited on a polyimide cruciform substrate thanks to a biaxial testing machine developed on the DiffAbs beamline at SOLEIL synchrotron. The mechanical behavior of the nanocomposite was characterized at the micro-scale and the macro-scale using simultaneously synchrotron X-ray diffraction and digital image correlation techniques. Strain analyses for equi-biaxial and non equi-biaxial loading paths have been performed. The results show that the two strain measurements match to within 1 × 10-4 in the elastic domain for strain levels less than 0.3% and for both loading paths.

Bending strain-tunable magnetic anisotropy in Co2FeAl Heusler thin film on Kapton®

Bending effect on the magnetic anisotropy in 20 nm Co2FeAl Heusler thin film grown on Kapton® has been studied by ferromagnetic resonance and glued on curved sample carrier with various radii. The results reported in this Letter show that the magnetic anisotropy is drastically changed in this system by bending the thin films. This effect is attributed to the interfacial strain transmission from the substrate to the film and to the magnetoelastic behavior of the Co2FeAl film. Moreover, two approaches to determine the in-plane magnetostriction coefficient of the film, leading to a value that is close to λCFA = 14 × 10−6, have been proposed.

Voltage-induced strain control of the magnetic anisotropy in a Ni thin film on flexible substrate

Voltage-induced magnetic anisotropy has been quantitatively studied in polycrystalline Ni thin film deposited on flexible substrate using microstrip ferromagnetic resonance. This anisotropy is induced by a piezoelectric actuator on which the film/substrate system was glued. In our work, the control of the anisotropy through the applied elastic strains is facilitated by the compliant elastic behavior of the substrate. The in-plane strains in the film induced by the piezoelectric actuation have been measured by the digital image correlation technique. Non-linear variation of the resonance field as function of the applied voltage is found and well reproduced by taking into account the non linear and hysteretic variations of the induced in-plane strains as function of the applied voltage. Moreover, we show that initial uniaxial anisotropy attributed to compliant substrate curvature is fully compensated by the voltage induced anisotropy.

Laue-DIC: a new method for improved stress field measurements at the micrometer scale

The increment of elastic strain distribution, with a micrometer spatial resolution, is obtained by the correlation of successive Laue images. Application to a bent Si crystal allows evaluation of the accuracy of this new Laue-DIC method, which is about 10−5.

Spectroscopic investigation of elastic and magnetoelastic properties of CoFeB thin films

Magneto-stress coupling has been studied in Co20Fe60B20 thin films of varying thicknesses (10, 20 and 250 nm) deposited onto flexible substrate. It has been investigated by measuring the magnetic resonance under uniaxial (tensile or compressive) applied stresses in situ. The benchmark state, in terms of elastic and magnetic properties, was studied by combining Brillouin light scattering experiments and magnetic resonance experiments on flat samples. The deduced parameters are thickness-independent and close to the ones obtained using rigid substrates. A large uniaxial anisotropy proportional to the applied uniaxial stress is found, which is well fitted by considering an isotropic saturation magnetostriction coefficient. Finally, the angular dependence of the resonance field with in-plane biaxial stresses is probed and explained using a simple analytical model.

In situ tailoring of magnetization configuration in NiFe film deposited onto flexible substrate

In this paper, we study the effect of mechanical stress on the domain configuration of a NiFe film obliquely deposited on a compliant polyimide substrate. To this end, we have developed a new method combining in situ mechanical tests with magnetic force microscopy (MFM) imaging. This approach allows changing the static magnetization structure of the film by controlling the stress-induced anisotropy. In the absence of applied stress and magnetic field, the sample shows stripe domains with an in-plane tilted direction with respect to the stress axis. After saturating the film, application of an increasing stress regenerates progressively a stripe domains structure with a modified in-plane magnetization direction.

Micro-strip ferromagnetic resonance study of strain-induced anisotropy in amorphous FeCuNbSiB film on flexible substrate

The magnetic anisotropy of a FeCuNbSiB (Finemet®) film deposited on Kapton® has been studied by micro-strip ferromagnetic resonance technique. We have shown that the flexibility of the substrate allows a good transmission of elastic strains generated by a piezoelectric actuator. Following the resonance field angular dependence, we also demonstrate the possibility of controlling the magnetic anisotropy of the film by applying relatively small voltages to the actuator. Moreover, a suitable model taking into account the effective elastic strains measured by digital image correlation and the effective elastic coefficients measured by Brillouin light scattering, allowed to deduce the magnetostrictive coefficient. This latter was found to be positive (λ = 16 × 10−6) and consistent with the usually reported values for bulk amorphous FeCuNbSiB.