Microstructure and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline tungsten thin films

Tungsten (W) thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering onto Si (100) substrates. Their microstructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hardness and modulus were evaluated by nanoindentation. It is found that a 30 nm Cr sticking layer induces structure changes of deposited W film from β-W to α-W structure. In addition, remarkable hardness enhancement both for the deposited and annealed W films, were compared with that of bulk coarse-grained W, although their nanoindentation modulus is very close to that of corresponding bulk W. The intrinsic reasons that lead to structure changes and super hardness are discussed.