Improved electro-mechanical reliability of flexible systems with alloyed Mo-Ta adhesion layers

Patrice Kreiml, Martin Rausch, Velislava Terziyska, Harald Köstenbauer, Jörg Winkler, Christian Mitterer, Megan J. Cordill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Sputter deposited Mo/Al/Mo multilayers are widely used material systems for electrodes in display technologies. In this study, the electro-mechanical behavior of simplified bilayer versions was improved for flexible applications through substitution of the Mo by Mo-Ta alloy layers. Sputter deposited Al/Mo-Ta bilayers were tested under uniaxial tensile and cyclic bending loads. Compared to similar Al/Mo bilayers from previous studies, the Mo-Ta interlayer with 50 at.% Ta improved the crack onset strain under tensile load by more than 1% strain. Furthermore, after 50 000 cycles under 1.3% bending strain, the Al/Mo-Ta bilayers were nearly undamaged and experienced a relatively small electrical resistance increase of 25%, compared to Al/Mo bilayers, which were 40 to 100 times higher. This work shows that the substitution of the brittle Mo interlayer with a more ductile Mo-Ta interlayer can improve the performance and lifetime of the electrodes and is more suitable for flexible displays than the currently used materials.

Original languageEnglish
Article number138533
Number of pages9
JournalThin solid films
Volume720.2021
Issue number28 February
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 9 Jan 2021

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