Chromium Thin Films Research Articles

Crack Development and Electrical Degradation in Chromium Thin Films Under Tensile Stress on PET Substrates

The mechanical and electrical deterioration of chromium (Cr) thin films sputtered onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates under tensile strain was studied. Understanding mechanical and electrical stability due to imposed strain is particularly important for device reliability, as the demand for flexible electronic devices increases. Cr thin films, widely spread across the field of electronic and sensor applications, face crack propagation with electrical degradation with tensile stress that can seriously compromise the performance. Accordingly, this study offers new findings on how Cr film thickness might influence crack formation and electrical resistance differently and also the general guidelines for flexible electronic component design with respect to long-term durability. Electrical resistances were measured while mechanically stretching 100- and 200 nm thin sheets. The study focused on crack development and propagation mechanisms in both film thicknesses and their effects on percentage change in electrical resistance (PCER). Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize surface morphology and observe cracks as the strain rose. Early crack formation in 100 nm Cr films led to rapid PCER increases due to quick crack propagation and fast electrical degradation. Thicker 200 nm films, however, showed a more gradual PCER rise with fewer but deeper cracks, indicating a regulated strain response. Unlike the sharp PCER spike in 100 nm films, 200 nm samples were more variable, with three out of four showing a slight PCER decrease at the end, hinting at partial crack repair or conductive realignment before full failure. These results underscore the role of layer thickness in managing crack propagation and electrical stability, relevant for flexible electronics and strain sensors. This paper is aligned with the ninth goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Target 9.5: Enhance Research and Upgrade Industrial Technologies.

Study on Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Double-End Supported Elastic Substrate Prepared by Wet Etching Process.

Preparing elastic substrates as a carrier for dual-end supported nickel chromium thin film strain sensors is crucial. Wet etching is a vital microfabrication process widely used in producing microelectronic components for various applications. This article combines lithography and wet etching methods to microprocess the external dimensions and rectangular grooves of 304 stainless steel substrates. The single-factor variable method was used to explore the influence mechanism of FeCl3, HCl, HNO3, and temperature on the etching rate, etching factor, and etching surface roughness. The optimal etching parameter combination was summarized: an FeCl3 concentration of 350 g/L, HCl concentration of 150 mL/L, HNO3 concentration of 100 mL/L, and temperature of 40 °C. In addition, by comparing the surface morphology, microstructure, and chemical and mechanical properties of a 304 stainless steel substrate before and after etching treatment, it can be seen that the height difference of the substrate surface before and after etching is between 160 μm and -70 μm, which is basically consistent with the initial design of 0.2 mm. The results of an XPS analysis and Raman spectroscopy analysis both indicate that the surface C content increases after etching, and the corrosion resistance of the surface after etching decreases. The nano-hardness after etching increased by 26.4% compared to before, and the ζ value decreased by 7%. The combined XPS and Raman results indicate that the changes in surface mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel substrates after etching are mainly caused by the formation of micro-nanostructures, grain boundary density, and dislocations after wet etching. Compared with the initial rectangular substrate, the strain of the I-shaped substrate after wet etching increased by 3.5-4 times. The results of this study provide the preliminary process parameters for the wet etching of a 304 stainless steel substrate of a strain measuring force sensor and have certain guiding significance for the realization of simple steps and low cost of 304 stainless steel substrate micro-nano-processing.

Impact of deposition rate on structural, morphological and optical properties of E-beam evaporated chromium thin film

The structural, morphological and optical properties of thin chromium film are investigated on the dependency of deposition rate with characterization by X-ray Diffraction, SEM-EDS, AFM and UV–Visible spectroscopy. A high vacuum E-Beam vacuum coating device fabricates thin chromium film at different deposition rates on borosilicate glass. XRD diffractogram reveals that film is in amorphous nature at low deposition rate. The crystallite size is increases with increases the deposition rate but strain is in opposite nature. It is decreases as deposition rate increases indicate no peak shifting. AFM demonstrates that smoother surfaces with higher deposition rates reduce scattering losses i.e., from 0.016 to 0.006 nm. SEM-EDS spectra gives information about pure chromium is deposited on substrate without any oxides and sulphides formation. Optical analysis depicts that transmittance is decreases with deposition rate and uniform in visible range. As the rate of deposition rises, the extinction coefficient and absorption coefficient drop.

Development of Sub‐Band in Spray‐Deposited Cr‐Substituted Chalcopyrite Thin Films for Advancing Solar Cell Efficiency

Designing effective strategies for mitigating energy crisis highlights a research gap in current solar cell technologies. This study explores the inherent physicochemical properties of thin films composed of copper gallium sulfide telluride (CuGa1−xCrx(S,Te)2) with chromium substitution, prepared through the chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The investigation showcases how the concept of intermediate band structuring contributes to enhancing solar cell efficiency. This enhancement can be attributed to the remarkable mobility (from 1.80 to 5.48 cm2 V−1 s−1) and conductivity (from 1.00 to 6.06 S cm−1) exhibited by pure and 0.1 chromium thin films, respectively. Notably, the Cr‐0.1‐substituted CGST film displays maximum photoresponsivity of 0.624 AW−1, an external quantum efficiency of 145%, and a detectivity of 2.37E10. The fabricated solar cell is subjected to theoretical simulation using solar cell capacitance simulator‐1D software, revealing an upward trend in efficiency from 7.13% to 11.23% with increasing Cr substitution from 0.025 to 0.1. This efficiency improvement can be ascribed to the reduction in bandgap (from 2.40 to 1.72 eV) and the creation of a sub‐band in CGST due to Cr incorporation, as substantiated by UV–vis and NIR spectroscopy. These outcomes suggest that Cr‐0.1‐substituted CGST holds promise as a potential thin film absorber material in solar photovoltaics.

Ab initio simulation of imaging of wavelength-sized objects and estimation of resolution.

Image characterization in microscopy, in particular, the estimation of its resolution, requires detailed knowledge of its relation to the object. For objects with sizes comparable to or smaller than the operating wavelength, such a relation can be obtained only by considering electromagnetic scattering described by the Maxwell equations. Here we follow precisely the steps involved in the image formation in microscopy with broad angle illumination-starting from the Maxwell equations to find the scattered far fields for each plane wave, projecting them into a sensor array, and finally assembling the incoherent image by adding all coherent contributions. We consider a classical object-a narrow slit in an absorbing screen, which is taken as a very thin chromium film deposited on a glass substrate. The inapplicability of the Kirchhoff approximation for such a slit is addressed, and the calculated image is subsequently analyzed to evaluate its intrinsic resolution using a point spread function. The difference in image intensities defined using the Poynting vector and the electric field intensity is also discussed.

Transient ablation topography of a thin chromium film after ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation in the spallation and phase explosion regime

Time-resolved imaging pump–probe reflectometry is an established technique to characterize the dynamic processes occurring during the material ablation upon ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation. In the phase explosion regime, however, the presence of an expanding liquid–vapor mixture on top of the ablated material makes an unambiguous determination of the transient ablation topography almost impossible, especially when only front-side pump–probe reflectometry is used. To circumvent this limitation, the front-side reflectometry was complemented by rear-side reflectometry, where the probe radiation does not interact with the liquid–vapor mixture, and the underneath ablation kinetics of the material becomes observable. To interpret the measured front- and rear-side reflectances, an optical multilayer model of the ablation process was developed. Its applicability is demonstrated on a thin chromium film that was ablated by a single pump pulse. The optical model replicates the Newton rings measured during spallation and phase explosion very well, which allows the reconstruction of the transient ablation topography. The combination of the front- and rear-side reflectometry with modeling offers a valuable tool for studying the ablation processes in thin metal films, because it overcomes the challenges of the phase explosion regime, and thus enhances the understanding of material dynamics upon laser irradiation.

Comparative study on the effect of substrates on electrical properties of tin and chromium thin films

In thin film technology, substrate materials happen to be one of the deposition parameters that determine the physical properties of films. Hence, soda-lime glass and quartz continue to be the widely utilized substrate materials because of their high-frequency performance, price, and surface quality. For certain applications, various substrate materials that provide an acceptable compromise for the work at hand are required. Soda-lime glass and quartz have been chosen as the substrates for the tin and chromium thin films that will be produced via thermal evaporation in a vacuum. A comparative study on the electrical properties of chromium films was made in the light of Fuchs–Sondheimer and Mayadas–Shatzkes theories. Numerous physical properties, including resistivity of infinitely thick film, sticking coefficient, conduction electron mean free, etc., may be determined from resistivity-thickness data.

Decrypting the thermal effects on the electric field-induced material formation process on Cr thin films

Controlled electrochemical reactions on chromium (Cr) thin films have been employed to create micro- and nano-scale patterns using a scanning probe-based patterning process called electrolithography (ELG). The electrochemical reaction produces a liquid material. The ELG process, being a local anodic oxidation-based technique, is significantly affected by several factors, including various ambient conditions. In this article, we explore the effects of temperature on the said electrochemical reaction-induced liquid material formation process. Keeping other ambient conditions constant, the temperature is varied over a large range, and we observe that a 40 °C change in temperature results in a 20-time change in the radial spread of the liquid region. This observation is thereafter explained by the effect of temperature on three different parameters affecting the rate of electrochemical reaction. Thus, based on this study, we can say that temperature is one of the most crucial parameters which can be used to confine the lateral spread of the formed liquid region and thereby improve the resolution of the patterns created using the ELG technique.

Electron-enhanced high power impulse magnetron sputtering with a multilevel high power supply: Application to Ar/Cr plasma discharge

A high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) power supply, called e-HiPIMS, has been developed and used to deposit chromium thin films within an argon discharge. This power supply comprises three stages; each can deliver a voltage pulse up to 300 V. The advantage of this power supply is the possibility of tailoring a pulse waveform on the cathode with several voltage levels. This e-HiPIMS can operate in the standard HiPIMS mode (s-HiPIMS) and multipulse HiPIMS mode. Each voltage sequence is independently managed regarding the width, delay, and voltage level. They can all be synchronized, giving the s-HiPIMS, or shifted in time and added to each other. Hence, the idea is to favor a specific ion population compared to others, according to the process needs and the targeted application. A beneficial example used a three-pulse sequence with different voltage levels. The influence of the temporal behavior on the plasma parameters, namely, currents and electron energy, has been studied for each pulse sequence. The results show that the discharge current stays within the same order of magnitude as in the standard HiPIMS. The reference current level can be obtained quickly, adding a short over-pulse, even if its voltage level is relatively low. Furthermore, measurements by the Langmuir probe reveal that a maximum electron density is obtained at 0.2 and 0.6 Pa of argon for a configuration that adds two distinguished voltage-pulse sequences, one between 5 and 15 μs and the other between 20 and 40 μs. It comes out that this e-HiPIMS sequence significantly increases the electron density.

Ti doped Cr2O3 thin films: Atomic layer deposition, mechanical and optical properties

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of titanium doped chromium oxide (CTO) films on Si (100) and SiO2 substrates was studied using deposition formula of n× (CrO2Cl2 - CH3OH) + m × (TiCl4 - H2O). The CTO films contained α-Cr2O3 eskolaite phase when deposited at Ti/(Ti+Cr) atomic ratio values of 0–0.24. During the first ALD super cycle, the growth rate of the Ti-O on chromium oxide was 2.4 times higher compared to that on TiO2 and was explained by the differences of densities of oxygen atoms on the (001) plane of eskolaite compared to their density on (001) plane of anatase. At the same time only minor influence on the growth rate of chromium oxide depending on the Ti amount was detected. The hardness value of 20.5 GPa was obtained for CTO films at Ti/(Ti+Cr) atomic ratio of 0.24, higher than 14.8 and 12.2 GPa obtained for pure chromium and titanium oxide thin films, respectively. The doping of the chromium oxide with titanium increased the absorbance of the films in the wavelength range of 350 – 450 nm and decreased the band gap energy corresponding to the indirect transition from 3.0 eV for pure Cr2O3 to 2.2 eV.

Origami-Inspired Fabrication of High-Performance Wafer-Level Packaged Three-Dimensional Radio-Frequency Inductors

Planar radio-frequency (RF) on-chip inductors suffer from large electromagnetic losses, stemming from the low resistivity silicon substrate. Though it is well-known that 3-dimensional (3D) MEMS-based RF inductors offer significant performance enhancement by reducing the substrate proximity effects, they are prone to mechanical failures and often come without any appropriate packaging, leading to reliability issues. Herein, we report an approach to fabricate highly robust packaged 3D RF inductors, while relying on the concept of stress-induced self-assembly. By leveraging the large residual stresses in evaporated chromium thin films at low thicknesses (below 50 nm), we assemble the planar copper coils coated with chromium nano-layers into out-of-plane folded RF inductors, directly improving their <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -factor. Through measurements, we show more than three-fold ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math> </inline-formula> 300%) improvement in the inductor <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -factor after the bending. Considering the inherent fragility of suspended inductors, we then add a dedicated wafer-level polymer packaging to our inductors, to improve their mechanical robustness. Specifically, we coat a thick SU-8 layer using a quasi-static volumetric dispensing process, to embed the inductors without deforming them. Upon baking, the polymer layer solidifies, making the buried inductors extremely rigid. We show that though our inductors have <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -factors similar to existing MEMS inductors, their low design complexity and high strength gained via polymer packaging make them stand out among the others. This packaging technique essentially paves the way for the widespread commercialization of suspended inductors, which has been hindered in the past by their poor mechanical reliability. 2023-0018

CALCULATION OF NUCLEAR FUEL CLADDING INTERNAL COATING THICKNESS FOR EMERGENCY RESISTANT NUCLEAR FUEL ELEMENT

CALCULATION OF NUCLEAR FUEL CLADDING INTERNAL COATING THICKNESS FOR EMERGENCY RESISTANT NUCLEAR FUEL ELEMENT

Design and Numerical Analysis of Ultra-Broadband Absorber with Chimney Type Structure

In this study, a novel ultra-broadband absorber is suggested and numerically analyzed to demonstrate that the suggested absorber can achieve an average absorbance of 98.6% in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range (496–2100 nm). The structure of the proposed new ultra-wideband absorber consists of four thin films of silicon dioxide (SiO2), iron (Fe), magnesium fluoride (MgF2), and chromium (Cr). We have examined the structure’s electromagnetic field intensity distribution at numerous selected optical wavelengths and the influence of various structural parameters on the absorption performance of the absorber to offer a physical mechanism underlying the ultra-broadband absorption effect. Furthermore, in the presence of high-performance absorption, the structure has the effect of stabilizing absorption at large angles of incidence and is polarization-independent at vertical angles of incidence. The study also assesses the solar absorption capability of this structure, indicating that the structure has potential applications in solar absorption, such as solar energy collection and conversion, solar power generation, and thermal emitters.

Effects of Ag-doped Content on Antimicrobial Activity and Substrate Color of Chromium Thin Films Deposited by DC Magnetron Sputtering

Silver ions (Ag+) show promise as excellent antimicrobial agents to inhibit microbial growth on high-touch surfaces. In this study, Ag-doped Cr films were deposited using a DC magnetron sputtering system from a mosaic target. The Cr-Ag mosaic target was a 0.125-inch-thick Cr base (99.95% pure) with different diameters of Ag circle sheets mounted on the Cr target. The sputtering condition was kept at a DC power of 100W, working pressure of 8.3x10-3 mbar with Ar as the sputtering gas, and sputtering times of 15 and 30 min. The antimicrobial activity and efficiency were determined by standard testing (JIS Z 2801: 2000). The antibacterial performance was calculated from the antibacterial inhibition of the Ag-doped Cr films in bacterial solution (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) after 24 h. The results showed that the Ag content was between 0.27 at% and 6.11 at% depending on the diameter of Ag and the deposition time. The minimum Ag content of 4.05 at% had an inhibition efficiency of 99.98% (E. coli) and 96.33% (S. aureus). The contact angle testing of Ag-doped Cr films showed hydrophobic behavior with the angle greater than 90 degrees. The optical color of the Ag-doped films was characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy (CIE testing). The film colors were significantly changed by the addition of Ag into the Cr films. The total color difference (DE) increased by 3-10 units compared to the reference chromium film and the Ag doping mainly affected +L* (Lightness). Keywords: sputtering PVD; antibacterial agent; silver; mosaic target; ROS; gram-negative; gram-positive; CIE-L*ab *Corresponding author: Tel.: (+66)934598942 E-mail: 62609006@kmitl.ac.th

NV microscopy of thermally controlled stresses caused by thin Cr2O3 films.

Many modern applications, including quantum computing and quantum sensing, use substrate-film interfaces. Particularly, thin films of chromium or titanium and their oxides are commonly used to bind various structures, such as resonators, masks, or microwave antennas, to a diamond surface. Due to different thermal expansions of involved materials, such films and structures could produce significant stresses, which need to be measured or predicted. In this paper, we demonstrate imaging of stresses in the top layer of diamond with deposited structures of Cr2O3 at temperatures 19°C and 37°C by using stress-sensitive optically detected magnetic resonances (ODMR) in NV centers. We also calculated stresses in the diamond-film interface by using finite-element analysis and correlated them to measured ODMR frequency shifts. As predicted by the simulation, the measured high-contrast frequency-shift patterns are only due to thermal stresses, whose spin-stress coupling constant along the NV axis is 21±1 MHz/GPa, that is in agreement with constants previously obtained from single NV centers in diamond cantilever. We demonstrate that NV microscopy is a convenient platform for optically detecting and quantifying spatial distributions of stresses in diamond-based photonic devices with micrometer precision and propose thin films as a means for local application of temperature-controlled stresses. Our results also show that thin-film structures produce significant stresses in diamond substrates, which should be accounted for in NV-based applications.

Effects of substrate temperature and antireflection coating on the structural and optical properties of DC-sputtered chromium thin films for selective solar absorber applications

Effects of substrate temperature and antireflection coating on the structural and optical properties of DC-sputtered chromium thin films for selective solar absorber applications

Picosecond Ultrasonics for Studying Elastic Modulus of Polycrystalline Chromium Nanofilms: Thickness Dependence and Stiffness Enhancement

Accurate measurement of elastic constants in thin films is still an important issue to understand the scale behavior of nanosized materials. In the present study, we introduced an advanced non-destructive method, picosecond ultrasonics (PU), for measuring the out-of-plane elastic modulus of thin chromium (Cr) films. The femtosecond light pulse is focused on the Cr film to excite the longitudinal acoustic phonons (LAP), which propagate along the thickness direction and repeat reflections inside the Cr film. Then, the propagation/distribution of LAP is detected by the time-delayed probe light pulse through the photoelastic effect. Therefore, we can determine the out-of-plane modulus by measuring the periodic pulse echoes or the breathing mode vibrations within the Cr film. For most Cr films, the determined modulus is smaller than the corresponding bulk value and decreases with the decreasing thickness, while for some Cr films, it closes and may exceed the bulk value. This work describes the thickness-dependent elasticity of thin Cr films and provides evidence of the stiffness enhancement in Cr films on the Si substrate. In addition, since LAP with central frequency up to 310 GHz is excited in Cr films on the SiO2 substrate, we also demonstrate the potential of Cr films as high-frequency photoacoustic transducers.

Humidity- tunable liquefaction of Cr thin-film and its application to patterning

Electric field induced liquefaction of chromium (Cr) thin-films, being a surface-based process, is affected by the moisture content in the surroundings. The said process is an electrochemical reaction, which takes place on an electrically stressed Cr thin-film. The reaction results in a liquid region, which appears to flow out radially from the tip of the cathode. A proper understanding of the phenomenon is warranted as it is applied for performing a nanolithography process, electrolithography (ELG). In this study we have focused on the effect of relative humidity (RH) on the material formation and transport on electrically stressed Cr thin-film. Varying the RH over a wide range, the phenomenon is studied using different levels of DC stress. The effect of the applied DC stress coupled with varying levels of RH showed trends which are explained qualitatively and quantitatively. The results indicate that RH could be a pivotal parameter affecting the above-mentioned phenomenon on electrically stressed Cr thin-films and could significantly alter the minimum feature size attainable by ELG. To demonstrate the effect of RH on ELG, lines are drawn at various humidity levels resulting in greater than 100% increase in the attainable line width when RH is increased by about 40%.

Method of preparation of heterogeneous height standards for measurements by means of interferometry

The results of the practical implementation of a method for preparing calibration standards based on magnetron sputtering of a chromium film on the surface of the standard are presented. This film is an electrically conductive layer that preserves the topography of relief elements and allows scanning without charge accumulation in the sample. The results obtained showed that the sputtering of thin chromium films on the surface of height standards, the relief elements of which have different reflection coefficients, makes it possible to measure the heights of such standards with a fairly low error.

Antiferromagnetic chromium thin films as piezoresistive sensor materials

Sputter-deposited thin films of pure chromium and of chromium with small amounts of nitrogen are characterized regarding their electrical resistivity and strain dependence, i.e., piezoresistivity. They show a temperature dependent piezoresistive effect with gauge factors ranging approximately from 10 to 20. Related to this effect, they exhibit signs of a paramagnetic–antiferromagnetic transition at temperatures of 420 K and higher. For characterization, resistivity is measured at different strain levels: in a bending setup with a fixed radius and in a four-point bending system with reference strain gauges. Several parameter series of the sputter deposition of pure Cr films show that the higher gauge factor is correlated to a higher temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR). The addition of nitrogen extends the range of TCR toward negative values, with gauge factors still in the same range as pure Cr. A Cr–N strain gauge is characterized and shows a linear, low-hysteresis strain–resistivity effect as well as a relatively large transverse sensitivity. Resistivity and gauge factor of one Cr and one Cr–N sample are measured from room temperature up to 600 K. These films have a resistivity anomaly indicating an antiferromagnetic ordering temperature TN that is much higher than in bulk Cr. The gauge factor has a maximum near TN and falls to small values at higher temperatures. The results indicate that the piezoresistivity of Cr and Cr-rich films is coupled to their spin-density wave (SDW) antiferromagnetism. Since the SDW state is known to be tunable through alloying, internal stress, and crystallinity, it appears that piezoresistivity can be influenced by these parameters as well.