Young's Modulus and Hardness Characteristics of In-Situ-Doped Polycrystalline 3C-SiC Thin Films Measured by Using a Nanoindenter

3C-SiC thin films are widely used in extreme environments, radio frequency (RF) environments and bio-materials for micro/nano electronic mechanical systems (M/NEMS). The mechanical properties of 3C-SiC thin films need to be considered when designing M/NEMS, so Young's Modulus and the hardness need to be accurately measured. Young's Modulus and the hardness are in fluenced by N-doping. In this paper, we show that the mechanical properties of poly (polycrystalline) 3C-SiC thin films are in uenced by the N-doping concentration. Furthermore, we measure the mechanical properties of 3C-SiC thin lms for N-doping concentrations of 1 %, 3 % and 5 %, by using nanoindentation. For films deposited using a 1 % N-doping concentration, Young's Modulus and the hardness were measured as 270 GPa and 30 GPa, respectively. When the surface roughness of the thin films was investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the roughness of the 5 % N-doped 3C-SiC thin film was the lowest of all the films, at 15 nm. 3C-SiC thin films are widely used in extreme environments, radio frequency (RF) environments and bio-materials for micro/nano electronic mechanical systems (M/NEMS). The mechanical properties of 3C-SiC thin films need to be considered when designing M/NEMS, so Young's Modulus and the hardness need to be accurately measured. Young's Modulus and the hardness are in fluenced by N-doping. In this paper, we show that the mechanical properties of poly (polycrystalline) 3C-SiC thin films are in uenced by the N-doping concentration. Furthermore, we measure the mechanical properties of 3C-SiC thin lms for N-doping concentrations of 1 %, 3 % and 5 %, by using nanoindentation. For films deposited using a 1 % N-doping concentration, Young's Modulus and the hardness were measured as 270 GPa and 30 GPa, respectively. When the surface roughness of the thin films was investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the roughness of the 5 % N-doped 3C-SiC thin film was the lowest of all the films, at 15 nm. KCI Citation Count: 5