Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Elastic Properties of Hardness Coatings Using Surface Acoustic Wave Spectroscopy

Published

Author(s)

Donna C. Hurley, A J. Richards, Vinod K. Tewary, A Bendavid, P J. Martin

Abstract

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) spectroscopy is a nondestructive way to determine the properties of thin films. Plane-wave SAWs are generated by a line-focused, pulsed laser and detected by a Michelson interferometer. Phase velocity dispersion relations over several hundred megahertz are obtained by measuring the displacement waveform versus propagation distance. Data analysis employs a new Green's function model that accommodateselastic anisotropy in the entire layered system. With this approach, quantitative values for film properties like thickness d and Young's modulus E are obtained- We present our results on two film materials developed forenhanced wear resistance and show how different physical models containing one or more film layers affects data analysis. In TiN film specimens, E generally increased with increasing d and decreasing compressive residual stress ς, regardless of the analysis model used. In superhard specimens of Tij-xSixNy films with a nanocomposite structure, SAW values for E were in good agreement with results from instrumented indentation techniques. Results showed that the hardness-to-modulus ratio H/E, an indicator of wear resistance, was relatively high.
Proceedings Title
Ultrasonics Symposium | | 2002 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium | IEEE
Volume
2002
Issue
1
Conference Dates
October 8-11, 2002
Conference Location
Munich, GE
Conference Title
IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium

Keywords

laser ultrasonics, surface acoustic waves, thin films, Young's modulus

Citation

Hurley, D. , Richards, A. , Tewary, V. , Bendavid, A. and Martin, P. (2002), Elastic Properties of Hardness Coatings Using Surface Acoustic Wave Spectroscopy, Ultrasonics Symposium | | 2002 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium | IEEE, Munich, GE (Accessed April 26, 2024)
Created October 1, 2002, Updated February 17, 2017