Peak/Plateau Strength in Nanoscale Multilayer Thin Films: Constrained vs Unconstrained Dislocation Nucleation

Abstract

AbstractThe peak/plateau strength of multilayer thin films is analyzed in terms of the stress to bow out a dislocation loop from an interface. Comparison of approximate analytic models to experimental data suggests that the bow out is “constrained” by nearby interfaces, at least for e-NbN/Mo and e-Ni/Cu films. Estimates of the interfacial pinning distance to form the bow out are ˜20b for e-NbN/Mo and ˜70b for e-Ni/Cu around peak/plateau strength (b is the magnitude of Burgers vector).