Measurement of the Effect of Temperature on Stress Distribution and Deformation in Multilayer Optical Thin Film Structures

This study investigates methods of predicting the deformation and stress distribution in multilayer optical thin film structures. The thin film layers include materials of various thermal expansion coefficients, elastic moduli, and melting temperatures. Each layer is deposited at a different temperature, causing complex thermal and deposition stresses throughout the structure. In addition, since the deposition temperatures of some of the layers are high (>600°C), stress relaxation and plastic flow may occur in materials with low melting temperatures. A combination of theoretical predictions and experimental measurements is used to measure and quantify the deformation caused by residual and thermal stresses in the films as well as any plastic deformation that may have occurred. Results from a model using multilayer plate bending theory to determine the elastic deformation of the device due to thermal stresses are reported. These predictions, as well as a more common method of predicting film stress and curvature, are compared to experimentally measured curvature changes as a function of temperature in the samples. However, when plastic deformation begins to occur at high temperatures, the residual stress and degree of deformation are no longer predictable based on elastic theory alone, and have to be measured experimentally. Plastic deformation in the substrate is discussed as a cause of a high observed curvature following sample heating.