Quantitative Elastic-Property Information With Acoustic AFM: Measurements and Modeling

Published

June 1, 2002

Author(s)

Donna C. Hurley, J S. Wiehn, J Turner, Paul Rice

Abstract

To investigate nanoscale mechanical behavior, new approaches using dynamic modes of the atomic force microscope cantilever are being developed. One method, atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM), measures cantilever resonances in the acoustic frequency range to obtain elastic-property information. We describe our quantitative AFAM measurements and compare them to results from techniques like surface acoustic waves and instrumented indentation. With AFAM we obtained M=64=81 GPa for the indentation modulus of an aluminumfilm. This agrees fairly well with literature values for bulk aluminum (MAI=76-81 GPa) and other results on the same film (MAl =78-85 GPa). We also examined a niobium film with AFAM using two separate calibration samples and two types of cantilevers. Depending on the type of cantilever used, we found MNb=105-114 Gpa in comparison to literature values Of MNb=116-133 GPa for bulk niobium and MNb=120 5 GPa obtained with surface acoustic waves. To understand the results more thoroughly, we compare two methods of AFAM spectrum analysis. The theoretical approach assumes a cantilever of uniform rectangular cross-section while the finite-element model accounts for spatial variations in cantilever dimensions. The same data are interpreted with the two approaches to better understand measurement uncertainty and accuracy.

Proceedings Title

Nondestructive Evaluation and Reliability of Micro- and Nanomaterial Systems | | Nondestructive Evaluation and Reliability of Micro- and Nanomaterial Systems | SPIE

Volume

4703

Conference Dates

March 1, 2002

Conference Title

Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

atomic force acoustic microscopy, elastic properties, thin films

Citation

Hurley, D. , Wiehn, J. , Turner, J. and Rice, P. (2002), Quantitative Elastic-Property Information With Acoustic AFM: Measurements and Modeling, Nondestructive Evaluation and Reliability of Micro- and Nanomaterial Systems | | Nondestructive Evaluation and Reliability of Micro- and Nanomaterial Systems | SPIE (Accessed April 24, 2024)