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In situ characterization of fracture toughness and dynamics of nanocrystalline titanium nitride films

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Abstract

We designed a clamped beam bending test using a nanoindentation holder with help of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and focused ion beam specimen fabrication. The microstructure evolution and crack propagation in nanocrystalline TiN were studied by electron imaging and load-displacement measurements during mechanical loading. By measuring the loads under which the crack starts and stops propagating and the time, we obtained the film’s fracture toughness using the finite element method and crack propagation speed. Among these, we identified three types of crack propagation pathways, namely bridging, intergranular and a mixed mode of transgranular and intergranular fracture, and the associated microstructure changes. The measured fracture toughness is in agreement with the reported values. Thus, our in situ TEM bending test provides the first direct measurement of fracture toughness in a TEM and a correlation of fracture toughness with fracture toughening mechanisms in nanocrystalline TiN. The method is general and can be applied to other nanocrystalline materials.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The work is supported by DOE BES (Grant No. DEFG02-01ER45923). Electron microscopy was carried out at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The TiN specimen was prepared by Ms. An-Ni Wang with Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University at Hsinchu, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Yang Hu & Jian-Min Zuo

  2. Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan

    Jia-Hong Huang

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  1. Yang Hu
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Correspondence to Jian-Min Zuo.

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Hu, Y., Huang, JH. & Zuo, JM. In situ characterization of fracture toughness and dynamics of nanocrystalline titanium nitride films. Journal of Materials Research 31, 370–379 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.4

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