Study of the Effect of Radiation Exposure on Grain Size and Mechanical Properties of Thin-Film Aluminum

For the first time, an experimental dependence of the grain size and mechanical properties of a thin-film aluminum material on the dose of short-wave radiation has been obtained. A thin film of aluminum was formed on a silicon substrate using magnetron sputtering. The effect of a decrease in mechanical strength and biaxial elastic modulus with increasing radiation dose was identified. This effect is explained by a decrease in grain size and roughness on a thin-film aluminum membrane. For the microscopically measured range of aluminum grain sizes, the inverse Hall-Petch relation is used. During the research, it was determined that during irradiation the number of grain boundaries and the number of grains themselves increases, which leads to an increase in the likelihood of deformation.