Effects of post-annealing on the structural and nanomechanical properties of sputter-deposited FePd thin films

Abstract

The effects of post-annealing on the microstructures, surface morphologies and nanomechanical characteristics of FePd thin films are investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoindentation techniques. The FePd thin films were deposited on the glass substrates at room temperature by magnetron sputtering system. Post-annealing was carried out at 500, 600 and 700 degrees C, respectively, resulting in progressive increase of the average grain size and surface roughness of FePd thin films, as well as the improved film crystallinity. XRD results show that FePd thin films are predominantly (111)-oriented, indicating a well-ordered microstructure. The hardness and Young\'s modulus of FePd thin films measured by a Berkovich nanoindenter operated with the continuous contact stiffness measurements (CSM) option indicated that both mechanical properties are decreased with increasing the annealing temperature. Furthermore, the relationship between the hardness and films grain size appears to follow closely with the Hall-Petch equation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.