[5] Oxide materials are typically hard and brittle, which means it can fracture under stress without significant prior deformation.

Therefore, researchers used the cantilever bending method to determine Young’s modulus of iridium oxide thin film.

The force exerted and the resulting deflection were precisely measured to calculate the stiffness and then the Young’s modulus of iridium oxide.

The experimental measurement of the young’s modulus of Iridium oxide thin film is reported to be 300 ± 15 GPa.

[13] However, if the lattice parameter of the iridium oxide layer changes significantly compared to the substrate following annealing, it can result in a greater lattice mismatch, which increases the surface tension and assist the formation of long cracks (similar to mechanically stressed cracks reported by Mailley et al.[14]).

The cracks create a breakpoint where the surface strain is relieved, leading to delamination and other types of mechanical failure.