Abnormal Grain Growth in Ultra-Thin Films of Germanium on Insulator

1983 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yonehara ◽  
C.V. Tihompson ◽  
Henry I. Smith

ABSTRACTThe growth of large secondary grains with (112) texture, and solid-state agglomeration to single-crystal islands have been observed by annealing ultra-thin (less than 1000Å) films of Ge. A driving force proportional to surface-energy anisotropy and inversely proportional to film thickness is believed to be responsible for both phenomena. The temperature for agglomeration decreases with film thickness, and is further depressed by the presence of Sn vapor. Patterning Ge into stripes increases secondary grain size and population. Encapsulation with a film of SiO2 suppresses agglomeration and alters crystallographic texture. A surface-relief structure of 0.2μm period and 300Å depth induces a (100) texture in some cases, and alters the morphology of agglomerated islands.

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 1650009 ◽  
Author(s):  
İ. A. KARIPER

This study examines the critical surface energy of manganese sulfite (MnSO[Formula: see text] crystalline thin film, produced via chemical bath deposition (CBD) on substrates. In addition, parachor, which is an important parameter of chemical physics, and its relationship with grain size, film thickness, etc., has been investigated for thin films. For this purpose, MnSO3 thin films were deposited at room temperature using different deposition times. Structural properties of the films, such as film thickness and average grain size, were examined using X-ray diffraction; film thickness and surface properties were measured by and atomic force microscope; and critical surface tension of MnSO3 thin films was measured with Optical Tensiometer and calculated using Zisman method. The results showed that critical surface tension and parachor of the films have varied with average grain size and film thickness. Critical surface tension was calculated as 32.97, 24.55, 21.03 and 12.76[Formula: see text]mN/m for 14.66, 30.84, 37.07 and 44.56[Formula: see text]nm grain sizes, respectively. Film thickness and average grain size have been increased with the deposition time and they were found to be negatively correlated with surface tension and parachor. The relationship between film thickness and parachor was found as [Formula: see text] whereas the relationship between average grain size and parachor was found as [Formula: see text] We also showed the relationships between parachor and some thin films parameters.


Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Weiguang Zhang ◽  
Jijun Li ◽  
Yongming Xing ◽  
Xiaomeng Nie ◽  
Fengchao Lang ◽  
...  

SiO2 thin films are widely used in micro-electro-mechanical systems, integrated circuits and optical thin film devices. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to studying the preparation technology and optical properties of SiO2 thin films, but little attention has been paid to their mechanical properties. Herein, the surface morphology of the 500-nm-thick, 1000-nm-thick and 2000-nm-thick SiO2 thin films on the Si substrates was observed by atomic force microscopy. The hardnesses of the three SiO2 thin films with different thicknesses were investigated by nanoindentation technique, and the dependence of the hardness of the SiO2 thin film with its thickness was analyzed. The results showed that the average grain size of SiO2 thin film increased with increasing film thickness. For the three SiO2 thin films with different thicknesses, the same relative penetration depth range of ~0.4–0.5 existed, above which the intrinsic hardness without substrate influence can be determined. The average intrinsic hardness of the SiO2 thin film decreased with the increasing film thickness and average grain size, which showed the similar trend with the Hall-Petch type relationship.


2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 886-888
Author(s):  
V. Z. Kanchukoev ◽  
A. Z. Kashezhev ◽  
A. Kh. Mambetov ◽  
V. A. Sozaev

1999 ◽  
Vol 594 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Spolenak ◽  
C. A. Volkert ◽  
K. Takahashi ◽  
S. Fiorillo ◽  
J. Miner ◽  
...  

AbstractIt is well known that the mechanical properties of thin films depend critically on film thickness However, the contributions from film thickness and grain size are difficult to separate, because they typically scale with each other. In one study by Venkatraman and Bravman, Al films, which were thinned using anodic oxidation to reduce film thickness without changing grain size, showed a clear increase in yield stress with decreasing film thickness.We have performed a similar study on both electroplated and sputtered Cu films by using chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) to reduce the film thickness without changing the grain size. Stress-temperature curves were measured for both the electroplated and sputtered Cu films with thicknesses between 0.1 and 1.8 microns using a laser scanning wafer curvature technique. The yield stress at room temperature was found to increase with decreasing film thickness for both sets of samples. The sputtered films, however, showed higher yield stresses in comparison to the electroplated films. Most of these differences can be attributed to the different microstructures of the films, which were determined by focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy and x-ray diffraction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-62
Author(s):  
Yurov V.M. ◽  
◽  
Goncharenko V.I. ◽  
Oleshko V.S. ◽  
◽  
...  

In this work, we show how to calculate the surface energy anisotropy and the thickness of the surface layer of some magnetic nanostructures. As an example, the minerals of magnetite, ulvespineli, ilmenite andpseudobrukite, which have different crystal structures, are considered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornsiri Wanarattikan ◽  
Piya Jitthammapirom ◽  
Rachsak Sakdanuphab ◽  
Aparporn Sakulkalavek

In this work, stoichiometric Sb2Te3 thin films with various thicknesses were deposited on a flexible substrate using RF magnetron sputtering. The grain size and thickness effects on the thermoelectric properties, such as the Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical conductivity (σ), power factor (PF), and thermal conductivity (k), were investigated. The results show that the grain size was directly related to film thickness. As the film thickness increased, the grain size also increased. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity corresponded to the grain size of the films. The mean free path of carriers increases as the grain size increases, resulting in a decrease in the Seebeck coefficient and increase in electrical conductivity. Electrical conductivity strongly affects the temperature dependence of PF which results in the highest value of 7.5 × 10−4 W/m·K2 at 250°C for film thickness thicker than 1 µm. In the thermal conductivity mechanism, film thickness affects the dominance of phonons or carriers. For film thicknesses less than 1 µm, the behaviour of the phonons is dominant, while both are dominant for film thicknesses greater than 1 µm. Control of the grain size and film thickness is thus critical for controlling the performance of Sb2Te3 thin films.


2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 2451-2454
Author(s):  
V. A. Postnikov ◽  
A. A. Kulishov ◽  
A. A. Ostrovskaya ◽  
A. S. Stepko ◽  
P. V. Lebedev-Stepanov

1996 ◽  
Vol 436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. S. Kang ◽  
P. S. Ho ◽  
R. Knipe ◽  
J. Tregilgas

AbstractThe mechanical behavior of the metal film on a polymer substrate becomes an important issue in microelectronics metallization. The metal/polymer structure is also useful to investigate the deformation behavior of very thin free-standing metal film since the flexible polymer serves as a deformable substrate. The tensile force-elongation curves have been measured using a microtensile tester for aluminum thin films, deposited on a PMDA-ODA polyimide film, in the thickness range from 60 rum to 480 nm. The stress-strain curves for aluminum films were constructed by subtracting these curves with polyimide curves measured separately. Tensile strength increases linearly with decreasing film thickness from 196 MPa to 408 MPa within the film thickness range studied. This is in good agreement with the published data for free-standing aluminum films in the same thickness range. The measured Young's modulus is lower than the bulk modulus and exhibits no systematic dependence on the film thickness. The microstructures of aluminum films have been examined using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). These films posses the (111)-textured columnar grain structures. Grain sizes exhibit log-normal distributions and the mean grain size increases monotonically with the film thickness. An attempt is made to evaluate the effect of film thickness and grain size on the strength of aluminum thin film and the result is discussed.


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