Mechanical properties of metallic thin films: theoretical approach

The statistical moment method in statistical mechanics was developed to investigate the mechanical properties of free-standing metallic thin films at ambient conditions including the anharmonicity effects of thermal lattice vibrations. Analytical expressions of isothermal areal modulus B T , Young’s modulus E and shear modulus G were derived in terms of the power moments of the atomic displacements. Numerical calculations have been performed for metallic Ni, Au and Al thin films, and compared with those of bulk metals. This method is physically transparent and it successfully described the temperature effects on mechanical properties of metallic thin films.