Determination of the Adhesive Strength of Film-Substrate Interfaces Using the Constant Depth Scratch Test

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Abstract
A constant depth scratch test (CDST) has been recently developed to quantify the shear strength of film-substrate interfaces. This test is capable of measuring interfacial adhesion as a function of position on the sample surface during a continuous scratch. Unlike many of the currently available tests which are applicable to a limited array of materials systems, or are experimentally complex, this test is quite versatile, and is relatively straightforward to conduct and interpret because of the constant depth geometry. The theoretical basis and the experimental set-up for the test have been previously presented. In this paper, extensions of the theoretical formulation to account for different debonding behaviors of different film-substrate systems are discussed. Experimental results generated with a number of systems, including chromium on glass, gold on aluminum nitride, gold on aluminum nitride with a chromium inter-layer, and polycrystalline diamond on aluminum nitride are presented.