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Nanoindentation cracking in gallium arsenide: Part II. TEM investigation

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Abstract

The nanoindentation fracture behavior of gallium arsenide (GaAs) is examined from two perspectives in two parent papers. In the first paper (part I), we address the morphology of the crack field induced by different types of indenters by means of in situ nanoindentation inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and of cleavage cross-sectioning techniques. In the present paper (part II), we investigate the early stage of crack nucleation under wedge nanoindentation through cathodoluminescence and transmission electron microscopy. We find that the apex angle of the wedge indenter influences the dislocation microstructure and, as a consequence, the mechanism of crack nucleation under nanoindentation. The formation of microtwins depends on both the orientation of the indenter with respect to the orientation of the GaAs crystal and on the apex angle of the indenter. For dicing applications of GaAs wafers, it is desirable to have an opening angle of the indenter smaller than 70° to facilitate the formation of precursor cracks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Empa, Swiss Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing, 3602, Thun, Switzerland

    Cédric Pouvreau & Jacques Henri Giovanola

  2. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory for Mechanical Systems Design, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Cédric Pouvreau & Jean-Daniel Ganière

  3. Empa, Swiss Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, 3602, Thun, Switzerland

    Kilian Wasmer, Jean-Marc Breguet & Daniel Schulz

  4. Department Advanced Technologies, Bookham AG, CH-8045, Zürich, Switzerland

    Haïcha Hessler-Wyser & Johann Michler

Authors
  1. Cédric Pouvreau
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  2. Kilian Wasmer
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  3. Haïcha Hessler-Wyser
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  4. Jean-Daniel Ganière
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  5. Jean-Marc Breguet
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  6. Johann Michler
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  7. Daniel Schulz
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  8. Jacques Henri Giovanola
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Correspondence to Kilian Wasmer.

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Both authors have contributed equally to this work.

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Pouvreau, C., Wasmer, K., Hessler-Wyser, H. et al. Nanoindentation cracking in gallium arsenide: Part II. TEM investigation. Journal of Materials Research 28, 2799–2809 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.275

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