Decomposition and dewetting of super-saturated Cu-15 at. % Co solid solution film
2024
Farzam, Farnaz | Bellón, Bárbara | Chatain, Dominique | Jiménez, José Antonio | Breitbach, Benjamín | Ghidelli, Matteo | Jazmin Duarte, María | Dehm, Gerhard | European Research Council
Nano-structured copper thin films present numerous applications for miniaturization of electronic devices. Their long term stability is key for reliable functionality. This work explores the thermal stability and solid state dewetting of a Cu-Co solid solution thin film and compares it to pure Cu. As according to the phase diagram Co is practically immiscible in Cu at room temperature, a metastable solid solution of Cu-15 at. % Co was deposited as thin film on a sapphire wafer. The microstructural evolution of the Co super-saturated film at temperatures ranging from 673 to 1073 K was evaluated using X-ray diffraction and high resolution microscopy techniques such as scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. Interestingly, there is a competition between grain growth and phase separation. Co precipitates at grain boundaries acting as pinning sites preventing rapid grain growth during heat treatment at intermediate annealing temperature. However, grain growth occurs very quickly at higher temperatures, once the elemental phases of Cu and Co are formed. The competition between grain growth and phase separation and their consequence for dewetting are discussed.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]DC is grateful for financial support by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. GD and MJD acknowledge financial support by the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (ERC Advanced Grant, GB-Correlate, Grant No. 787446).
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