Elastic Properties of Hard Coatings, Films and Polymeric Composites via Light Scattering

摘要

Brillouin light scattering (BLS) has been successfully applied to investigate the elastic properties of hard films were studied. The systems investigated include diamond-like-carbon, supported GaN/AlN structures and hard nano-crystalline zirconium-boride films. Highlights of the project include report of the first evidence for the existence of the high frequency longitudinal guided mode (LGM) in a supported hard films (diamond-like-carbon) and emerging evidence for the role of acoustic barriers offered by AlN in localizing elastic waves in GaN films. Preliminary work on amorphous ZrB3 films reveals its transformation to hard nano-crystallites of the boride layer with dramatic enhancement of the elastic properties upon high temperature anneal.