Abstract The mechanical properties of gallium nitride thin films in the cubic phase (c-GaN) measured by Berkovich nanoindentation are reported here. The c-GaN thin films were grown on MgO (100) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The X-ray diffraction results show that GaN thin films correspond to more than 99% cubic phase in all cases. Plastic transitions called pop-in events are observed during loading in some load-displacement curves at different depths. We believe that pop-in event is present when the tip interacts with defects encountered at different depths. The mean values of the hardness and Young's modulus of cubic GaN are 22 ± 1 GPa, and 293 ± 12, respectively.

中文翻译：

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通过纳米压痕获得的分子束外延生长的立方氮化镓的弹性模量和硬度

摘要 本文报道了通过 Berkovich 纳米压痕测量的立方相氮化镓薄膜 (c-GaN) 的机械性能。通过等离子体辅助分子束外延在 MgO (100) 衬底上生长 c-GaN 薄膜。X 射线衍射结果表明，GaN 薄膜在所有情况下都对应于 99% 以上的立方相。在加载过程中，在不同深度的一些载荷-位移曲线中观察到称为弹出事件的塑性转变。我们认为，当尖端与在不同深度遇到的缺陷相互作用时，就会出现弹出事件。立方氮化镓的硬度和杨氏模量的平均值分别为 22±1GPa 和 293±12。