DOE Final Report: A Unified Understanding of Residual Stress in Thin Films: Kinetic Models, Experiments and Simulations
- Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
Thin films are critical for a wide range of advanced technologies. However, the deposited films often have high levels of residual stress that can limit their performance or lead to failure. The stress is known to depend on many variables, including the processing conditions, type of material, deposition technique and the film’s microstructure. The goal of this DOE program was to develop a fundamental understanding of how the different processes that control thin film growth under different conditions can be related to the development of stress. In the program, systematic experiments were performed or analyzed that related the stress to the processing conditions that were used. Measurements of stress were obtained for films that were grown at different rates, different solutions (for electrodeposition), different particle energies (for sputter deposition) and different microstructures. Based on this data, models were developed to explain the observed dependence on the different parameters. The models were based on considering the balance among different stress-inducing mechanism occurring as the film grows (for both non-energetic and energetic deposition). Comparison of the model predictions with the experiments enabled the kinetic parameters to be determined for different materials. The resulting model equations provide a comprehensive picture of how stress changes with the processing conditions that can be used to optimize the growth of thin films.
- Research Organization:
- Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0008799
- OSTI ID:
- 1419009
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-BROWN-0008799
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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