par Delplancke, Marie-Paule ;Monteiro, Othon Rego
Référence Diamond and related materials, 12, 12, page (2119-2127)
Publication Publié, 2003-12
Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : In situ determination of stresses in thin films can be used as an important tool to assist process development as well as to understand the thermodynamics of film formation. A simple technique for the measurement of stresses in growing films is described here. The technique consists of measuring the displacement of a laser beam reflected from the film surface. Displacement is induced by changes in the radius of the curvature of the substrate resulting from stresses in the film. The detector sensitivity at the used wavelength (635 nm) is approximately 12 mV μm-1, for which our experimental set-up is equivalent to 4 mV μrad -1. The actual data collected consist of the reflected beam displacement vs. time, and provides at any instant the value of the average stress. By knowing the deposition rate, time is directly correlated with film thickness, and the local stress can be determined. Examples of measurement of stresses in tetragonally bonded amorphous carbon films prepared by filtered cathodic arc are presented, as well as how this technique can be used to design the deposition process to virtually eliminate intrinsic stresses. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.