Stresses in thin films: The relevance of grain boundaries and impurities

Hoffman, R. W.

doi:10.1016/0040-6090(76)90453-3

Cited by 453 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…[1][2][3] The origin and evolution of intrinsic stresses in physical vapor deposited polycrystalline films have been thoroughly investigated during the past decades, 1,3,4 highlighting the role of grain boundaries for stress generation. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Films deposited at homologous temperatures, T s /T m , well below 0.2 tend to be in a tensile stress state due to attraction between neighboring grains over underdense grain boundaries, 5,6 formed as a result of the limited mobility of film forming species (adatoms) at these conditions. 12 On the other hand, when deposition is performed at relatively high T s /T m (typically above 0.2), adatoms have sufficient mobility for dense films to form, 12 which is accompanied by generation of a compressive growth stress after formation of a continuous film.…”

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Atom insertion into grain boundaries and stress generation in physically vapor deposited films

Magnfält¹,

Abadias²,

Sarakinos³

2013

Applied Physics Letters

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We present evidence for compressive stress generation via atom insertion into grain boundaries in polycrystalline Mo thin films deposited using energetic vapor fluxes (<∼120 eV). Intrinsic stress magnitudes between −3 and +0.2 GPa are obtained with a nearly constant stress-free lattice parameter marginally larger (0.12%) than that of bulk Mo. This, together with a correlation between large compressive film stresses and high film densities, implies that the compressive stress is not caused by defect creation in the grains but by grain boundary densification. Two mechanisms for diffusion of atoms into grain boundaries and grain boundary densification are suggested.

Funding Agencies|COST Action|MP0804|Linkoping University.

The previous status of this article was Manuscript and the working title was Atomistic mechanisms leading to adatom insertion into grain boundaries and stress generation in physically vapor deposited films.

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Atom insertion into grain boundaries and stress generation in physically vapor deposited films

Magnfält¹,

Abadias²,

Sarakinos³

2013

Applied Physics Letters

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Funding Agencies|COST Action|MP0804|Linkoping University.

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“…During continued growth the tensile stress reduces and the stress state usually becomes compressive. There is general agreement in the literature that the initial tensile stress develops due to elastic strain associated with grain boundary formation during island coalescence [4][5][6][7]. However, a clear consensus has not emerged with respect to the mechanism that leads to the development of the compressive stress [8][9][10][11][12].…”

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Direct Evidence for Effects of Grain Structure on Reversible Compressive Deposition Stresses in Polycrystalline Gold Films

2009

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A component of the compressive stress that develops during deposition of polycrystalline thin films reversibly changes during interruptions of growth. The mechanism responsible for this phenomenon has been the subject of much recent speculation and experimental work. In this Letter, we have varied the inplane grain size of columnar polycrystalline gold films with a fixed thickness, by varying their thermal history. Without a vacuum break, the stress in these films was then measured in situ during growth and during interruptions in growth. Homoepitaxial gold films were similarly characterized as part of this study. The inverse of the in-plane grain size and the corresponding reversible stress change were found to be proportional, with zero reversible stress change observed for infinite grain size (homoepitaxial films). These results demonstrate a clear role of grain size in the reversible changes in gold films.

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“…1 Intrinsic tensile stress in fcc metal films has been interpreted successfully by Doljack and Hoffman in 1972. 2,3 Those relatively soft films exhibit grain growth during deposition. This leads to films with a microstructure consisting of more or less equiaxed grains with grain size about equal to the film thickness (h).…”

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Tensile stress in hard metal films

Janssen

Dammers²,

Sivel³

et al. 2003

Applied Physics Letters

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Thin films on substrates are usually in a stressed state. An important, but trivial, contribution to that stress stems from the difference in thermal expansion coefficient of substrate and film. Much more interesting are the intrinsic stresses, resulting from the growth and/or microstructure of the film. Intrinsic compressive stress was explained by d'Heurle in 1970. Intrinsic tensile stress for recrystallizing metal films was treated succesfully by Doljack and Hoffman in 1972. In the present letter we explain the occurrence of tensile stress in nonrecrystallizing metal films. The explanation is based on modern grain growth models and accurate stress measurements. The key ingredient to the explanation is the proof of the existence of a stress gradient in nonrecrystallizing metal films.

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Stresses in thin films: The relevance of grain boundaries and impurities

Cited by 453 publications

References 12 publications

Atom insertion into grain boundaries and stress generation in physically vapor deposited films

Atom insertion into grain boundaries and stress generation in physically vapor deposited films

Direct Evidence for Effects of Grain Structure on Reversible Compressive Deposition Stresses in Polycrystalline Gold Films

Tensile stress in hard metal films

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