X-ray elastic strain analysis of compressed Au thin film on polymer substrate

In this paper, we have compressed a strongly {111}-fiber textured gold film deposited onto a pre-stretched polymer (Kapton) substrate. The elastic strains were measured using an in situ X-ray diffraction technique. We have performed strain analysis for two geometries called longitudinal and transverse. The Neerfeld-Hill model allows capturing with a few discrepancies the non-linear experimental curves obtained in the two configurations. In contrast, the evolution of the average of the longitudinal and transverse strains as a function of sin(2) Psi is shown to be linear. This emphasizes the measurement accuracy during the compression test and is explained by the elastic grain-interaction independence of the averaged strains, even for a compression test. Moreover, we found that the gold film deforms elastically up to -0.7% (about -640 MPa). (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.