Abstract
The relationship between film cracking and film thickness has been studied experimentally for films of ceria gel deposited by spinning on to stainless steel substrates from an aqueous ceria sol. A critical film thickness below which films were crack-free was observed at about 0.6 μm. For films thicker than the critical thickness the crack spacing was approximately ten times the film thickness. Existing models for the mechanical stability of the films were examined to explain the observations, encompassing different forms of relaxation of the stress in the vicinity of a crack through the film. The model in best accord with the experimental observations is one in which stable delamination cracks are formed at the film-substrate interface on both sides of a crack through the film. However, for the model to be applicable some rather restrictive conditions must be assumed to be satisfied.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
D. L. Segal, “Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Ceramic Materials” (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989).
L. C. Klein (ed., “Sol-Gel Technology for Thin Films, Fibers, Preforms, Electronics and Specialty Shapes” (Noyes, New Jersey, 1988).
J. L. Woodhead, UK Patent 1 342 893 (1974).
M. S. Hu, M. D. Thouless andA. G. Evans,Acta Metall. 36 (1988) 1301.
M. S. Hu andA. G. Evans,ibid. 37 (1989) 917.
M. Murakami,CRC Crit. Rev. Solid State Mater. Sci. 11 (1984) 317.
J. C. Grosskreutz andM. B. McNeil,J. Appl. Phys. 40 (1969) 355.
H. Riedel,Metal Sci. 16 (1982) 569.
G. W. Scherer andT. Garino,J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 68 (1985) 216.
R. K. Bordia andR. Raj,ibid. 68 (1985) 287.
P. Meakin,Thin Solid Films 151 (1987) 165.
A. J. Skjeltorp andP. Meakin,Nature 335 (1988) 424.
G. W. Scherer,J. Non-Cryst. Solids 89 (1987) 217.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Atkinson, A., Guppy, R.M. Mechanical stability of sol-gel films. J Mater Sci 26, 3869–3873 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01184984
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01184984