Unlock Exclusive Discounts & Flash Sales! Click Here to Join the Deals on Every Wednesday!

Determination the Elastic Properties of Cubic Boron Nitride Films by Brillouin Scattering (CAT#: STEM-ST-0093-YJL)

Introduction

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) is the second hardest material next to diamond. It has attracted much research interest by its extreme physical and chemical properties, such as super high hardness, and elastic moduli, high atomic density, and chemical inertness. The cBN films have several advantages over diamond films and many technological potential properties characteristic for hard coating, however despite recent progress, significant barriers still exist to commercial production of cBN films. The thickness of these films commonly ranges from a few tens of nanometers up to the order of 1 mm, and therefore it is challenging to characterize the elastic properties of such thin films. Elastic properties of the cBN films need to be determined experimentally because they depend strongly on the synthesis conditions, and these properties cannot be derived from theoretical considerations alone.




Principle

From a quantum point of view, Brillouin scattering is an interaction of light photons with acoustic or vibrational quanta (phonons), with magnetic spin waves (magnons), or with other low frequency quasiparticles interacting with light. The interaction consists of an inelastic scattering process in which a phonon or magnon is either created (Stokes process) or annihilated (anti-Stokes process). The energy of the scattered light is slightly changed, that is decreased for a Stokes process and increased for an anti-Stokes process. This shift, known as the Brillouin shift, is equal to the energy of the interacting phonon and magnon and thus Brillouin scattering can be used to measure phonon and magnon energies.

Applications

Brillouin scattering is used to determine acoustic velocities and elastic properties of a number of crystalline solids, glasses, and liquids.

Procedure

1. Sample preparation
2. Measurement by scattering detection instrument
3. Data analysis

Materials

Brillouin scattering measurement system (Brillouin spectrometer)