Intrinsic stress response of low and high mobility solute additions to Cu thin films

Abstract

Thin film stress is frequently controlled through adjustments applied to the processing parameters used during film deposition. In this work, we explore how the use of solutes with different intrinsic growth properties influences the residual growth stress development for a common solvent Cu film. The findings demonstrated that the addition of a high atomic mobility solute, Ag, or a low atomic mobility solute, V, results in both alloy films undergoing grain refinement that scaled with increases in the solute content. This grain refinement was associated with solute segregation and was more pronounced in the Cu(Ag) system. The grain size reduction was also associated with an increase in the tensile stresses observed in both alloy sets. These findings indicate that solutes can be used to control the grain size under the same deposition conditions, as well as alter the stress evolution of a growing thin film.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 12, 2017
Source ID
10.1063/1.5008269

Entities

People

  • Gregory B. Thompson
  • Ryan Anthony
  • Tyler Kaub

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • University of Alabama

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.