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Download fileEnhanced Fracture Resistance of Flexible ZnO:Al Thin Films in Situ Sputtered on Bent Polymer Substrates
journal contribution
posted on 2015-08-19, 00:00 authored by Hong Rak Choi, Senthil Kumar Eswaran, Seung
Min Lee, Yong Soo ChoImproving
the fracture resistance of inorganic thin films is one of the key
challenges in flexible electronic devices. A nonconventional in situ
sputtering method is introduced to induce residual compressive stress
in ZnO:Al thin films during deposition on a bent polymer substrate.
The films grown under a larger prebending strain resulted in a higher
fracture resistance to applied strains by exhibiting a ∼ 70%
improvement in crack-initiating critical strain compared with the
reference sample grown without bending. This significant improvement
is attributed to the induced residual stress, which helps to prevent
the formation of cracks by counteracting the applied strain.