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Optical and Mechanical Characterization of Sputtered AlN/Ag Multilayer Films
Author(s) -
Appleget Chelsea D.,
Hodge Andrea M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201801268
Subject(s) - materials science , bilayer , transmittance , microstructure , composite material , brittleness , ceramic , sputtering , layer (electronics) , sputter deposition , deformation (meteorology) , thin film , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , genetics , membrane , biology
This study explores the synthesis of ceramic/metal multilayers with a wide range of transmittance values while examining their resulting microstructure and mechanical behavior. AlN/Ag nanomultilayers are synthesized by reactive DC magnetron sputtering with either repeated bilayer thicknesses or layer thicknesses optimized for transmittance. Five structures are investigated, and all show agreement with predicted transmittance values. The measured hardness values range from 4.9 to 19.4 GPa, while the failure is brittle‐dominated fracture, independent of the Ag layer thickness. The optically optimized samples exhibit a fourfold increase in hardness and increase optical performance over the repeated bilayer samples, despite the similar deformation behavior.