Mechanical properties of He irradiated and annealed AZ-1350 JTM films

The nanoindentation technique is used to measure hardness and Young's modulus in 1.7 mum thick photoresist AZ-1350J (TM) films deposited on Si wafer and irradiated with He ions at 380 keV and at fluences of 10(13), 10(14) and 10(15) He cm(-2). After irradiation the films have been also submitted to isothermal treatments at 350 degreesC for G h. The hardness value of 0.45 GPa for pristine film increases with ion irradiation to 2.3 GPa at the highest fluence. Thermal annealing, after irradiation, produces changes in the hardness behavior: for the lowest fluence the hardness raise from 0.7 to 1.0 GPa and for the highest fluence decreases from 2.3 to 1.8 GPa. The Young's modulus values also follow a similar variation after irradiation and thermal treatment. These results are discussed in terms of the crosslinking and the carbonization produced by irradiation and thermal treatment. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.