Indentation behaviour of (011) thin films of III–V semiconductors: polarity effect differences between GaAs and InP

Abstract

(011) thin films of GaAs and InP (220 and 250 μm thick, respectively) were deformed by a Vickers indenter at elevated temperatures (350 – 400 °C) under loads in the range 0.4 – 2.9 N. For loads higher than 1.9 N, symmetric punching through InP was detected at the opposite face while it was asymmetric through GaAs. In InP, when the punching mechanism took place, pile-up around the indent site progressively disappeared. Moreover, the measured plastic volumes reveal that plastic flow throughout the specimens is volume conservative, implying that pile-up and punching events are related. In GaAs, the anisotropic pile-up plasticity was studied using transmission electron microscopy. Models describing the material flow through the samples and reverse flow of matter are proposed.