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Quantitative Characterization of the Fracture Surface of Si Single Crystals by Confocal Microscopy
Author(s) -
Xin YunBiao,
Hsia K. Jimmy,
Lange David A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1995.tb07955.x
Subject(s) - materials science , nucleation , fracture toughness , dislocation , composite material , surface roughness , fracture (geology) , surface finish , fractal dimension , micrometer , cleavage (geology) , fractal , optics , chemistry , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , organic chemistry
Experiments are conducted to study the dislocation nucleation conditions at the crack tip in {110}〈110〉 oriented Si single crystals. Specimens with surface cracks are first statically loaded at elevated temperatures for a prolonged period of time to initiate and move dislocations away from the crack tip, then cooled down to room temperature and loaded to fracture to measure the fracture toughness. Fractographic analysis of the fracture surfaces is performed. Distinct wavy patterns on the fracture surface at the initial cleavage crack front are observed, which is attributed to the existence of local mixed mode I/mode III stresses resulting from the inhomogeneous dislocation activity. Confocal microscopy is employed to quantify the fracture surface roughness. The results show that the increase of fracture toughness is directly associated with the increased area of the rough surface, which is characterized by the roughness number or the fractal dimension increment. Our results also demonstrate that dislocation nucleation can occur only at discrete sites. The spacing between these dislocation nucleation sources is of the order of 1 μm. A simple model is developed for the relationship between the fracture toughness and the surface roughness parameters, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.