I am investigating the role of strain in thin film structures as result of film-substrate lattice mismatch. If the film is ~100nm thick, can i expect the effect of dislocations formed to relax the film to be experienced at the surface?
The strain will be for most thin film materials relaxed over a certain distance - so it can be also expected in some distance from the surface. Dislocation can indeed relax the interfacial stress but still, also a dislocation will require some thin film volume to exist. In depence on the material and thickness, you can expect that the dislocation will reach the surface. For a more specific answer you should provide more details about your system and the boundary parameters.
Epitaxial strain relaxes above a critical thickness that depends on materials as well. 100 nm can be enough to achieve relaxation but in some cases dislocations can expand over a long range as in layered oxides.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
- Nanostructures
- Thin Films