Principal Residual Strains as A function of Depth for Sputter Deposited Mo Thin Films

1994 ◽  
Vol 356 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Malhotra ◽  
Z. U. Rek ◽  
L. J. Parfitt ◽  
S. M. Yalisove ◽  
J. C. Bilello

AbstractTraditionally, the magnitude of the stress in a thin film is obtained by measuring the curvature of the film-substrate couple; however, these techniques all measure the average stress throughout the film thickness. On a microscopic level, the details of the strain distribution as a function of depth through the thickness of the film can have important consequences in governing film quality and ultimate morphology. A new method for determining the magnitude of principal strains (strain eigenvalues) as a function of x-ray penetration depth using grazing incidence x-ray scattering for a polycrystalline thin film will be described. Results are reported for two Mo metallizations ˜ 500 Å and ˜1000 Å thick sputtered onto Si {100} substrates. The magnitude of the principal strains at several penetration depths was accomplished by an analysis of the diffraction peak shifts of at least six independent {hkl} scattering vectors from the Mo thin films. An out-of-plane strain gradient was identified in both Mo films and the strain eigenvalues were found to be anisotropic in nature. This new methodology should work with a variety of thin films and hence would provide quantitative insight into the evolution of thin film microstructure.

Author(s):  
Jonathan Ogle ◽  
Daniel Powell ◽  
Eric Amerling ◽  
Detlef Matthias Smilgies ◽  
Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

<p>Thin film materials have become increasingly complex in morphological and structural design. When characterizing the structure of these films, a crucial field of study is the role that crystallite orientation plays in giving rise to unique electronic properties. It is therefore important to have a comparative tool for understanding differences in crystallite orientation within a thin film, and also the ability to compare the structural orientation between different thin films. Herein, we designed a new method dubbed the mosaicity factor (MF) to quantify crystallite orientation in thin films using grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) patterns. This method for quantifying the orientation of thin films overcomes many limitations inherent in previous approaches such as noise sensitivity, the ability to compare orientation distributions along different axes, and the ability to quantify multiple crystallite orientations observed within the same Miller index. Following the presentation of MF, we proceed to discussing case studies to show the efficacy and range of application available for the use of MF. These studies show how using the MF approach yields quantitative orientation information for various materials assembled on a substrate.<b></b></p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-251
Author(s):  
Detlef-M. Smilgies

Recently, surface and thin-film studies using area detectors have become prevalent. An important class of such systems are lamellar thin films formed by small molecules, liquid crystals or semicrystalline polymers. Frequently, the lamellae align more or less parallel to the substrate. Such structures can be easily discerned by their characteristic X-ray scattering close to the incident plane. This paper describes how such patterns can be simulated, in order to extract morphological information about the thin film.


1993 ◽  
Vol 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra G. Malhotra ◽  
Z. Rek ◽  
M. Vill ◽  
O.P. Karpenko ◽  
S.M. Yalisove ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIt is important that inherent strains (or stresses) be controlled during thin film processing. This study used grazing incidence x-ray scattering (G1XS) to determine the strain gradient present in a ∼1700 Å sputtered molybdenum thin film. In particular, the gradient in the hydrostatic strain was Measured. This observation corresponded to assessing the average change in the lattice parameter as a function of depth throughout the thickness of the film. In addition, the strain ellipsoids, which represent the state of strain in three dimensions, were calculated as a function of film depth. It was shown that the strain varied throughout the ∼1700 Å Mo film thickness and that the principal strains were anisotropic, with one principal strain much larger than the others in Magnitude.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ogle ◽  
Daniel Powell ◽  
Eric Amerling ◽  
Detlef Matthias Smilgies ◽  
Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

<p>Thin film materials have become increasingly complex in morphological and structural design. When characterizing the structure of these films, a crucial field of study is the role that crystallite orientation plays in giving rise to unique electronic properties. It is therefore important to have a comparative tool for understanding differences in crystallite orientation within a thin film, and also the ability to compare the structural orientation between different thin films. Herein, we designed a new method dubbed the mosaicity factor (MF) to quantify crystallite orientation in thin films using grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) patterns. This method for quantifying the orientation of thin films overcomes many limitations inherent in previous approaches such as noise sensitivity, the ability to compare orientation distributions along different axes, and the ability to quantify multiple crystallite orientations observed within the same Miller index. Following the presentation of MF, we proceed to discussing case studies to show the efficacy and range of application available for the use of MF. These studies show how using the MF approach yields quantitative orientation information for various materials assembled on a substrate.<b></b></p>


1989 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Martinez-Miranda ◽  
M. P. Siegal ◽  
P. A. Heiney ◽  
J. J. Santiago-Aviles ◽  
W. R. Graham

AbstractWe have used high resolution grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) to study the in-plane and out-of-plane structure of epitaxial YSi2-x films grown on Si (111), with thicknesses ranging from 85Å to 510Å. Our results indicate that the films are strained, and that film strain increases as a function of thickness, with lattice parameters varying from a = 3.846Å/c = 4.142Å for the 85Å film to a = 3.877Å/c = 4.121Å for the 510Å film. We correlate these results with an increase in pinhole areal coverage as a function of thickness. In addition, our measurements show no evidence for the existence of ordered silicon vacancies in the films.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1645-1650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Ogawa ◽  
Yukihiro Nishikawa ◽  
Akihiko Fujiwara ◽  
Mikihito Takenaka ◽  
Yi-Chin Wang ◽  
...  

Images of the spatial distribution of nanostructures in thin films were successfully reconstructed by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) coupled with computed tomography (CT) measurements. As a model sample of inhomogeneous thin films, a thin film was patterned with four characters (F, B, S and L) consisting of nanoparticles of gold (Au), platinum (Pt), Au/Pt and Pt/Au, respectively, on a silicon substrate. The characters each produced respective two-dimensional GISAXS images which reflect the nanoparticle structures and their correlations in the thin film. The application of the GISAXS-CT technique to the characteristic scattering GISAXS intensity of each component enables one to reconstruct the images of each character independently. Moreover, it was found that the patterned images could be reconstructed even from very weak scattered intensities at higherqpositions and the diffuse intensities. These results indicate that the GISAXS-CT method is a powerful tool to obtain distinct reconstruction images detailing the particle size, shape and surface roughness.


1996 ◽  
Vol 440 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Chow ◽  
R. Paniago ◽  
R. Forrest ◽  
S. C. Moss ◽  
S. S. P. Parkin ◽  
...  

AbstractThe growth by sputtering of a series of thin films of Fe/Au on MgO(001) substrates was analyzed using Bragg and diffuse X-ray scattering. The Fe (bcc) layer grows rotated by 45° with respect to the MgO – Au(fcc) (001) epitaxial orientation, resulting in an almost perfect match between the two metallic structures. By collecting the X-ray diffuse scattering under grazing incidence using a 2-dimensional image plate detector, we mapped the reciprocal space of these films. We characterized the correlated interface roughness starting with a buffer of Fe in which only three interfaces are present. The propagation of the roughness was subsequently characterized for Fe/Au multilayers with 40 and 100 bilayers. We observe an enlargement of the surface features as a function of time, evidenced by the longer lateral cutoff length measured for thicker films.


1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2905-2911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangsub Kim ◽  
Tae Soo Kang ◽  
Jung Ho Je

Epitaxial (Ba0.5Sr0.5) TiO3 thin films of two different thickness (∼25 and ∼134 nm) on MgO(001) prepared by a pulsed laser deposition method were studied by synchrotron x-ray scattering measurements. The film grew initially with a cube-on-cube relationship, maintaining it during further growth. As the film grew, the surface of the film became significantly rougher, but the interface between the film and the substrate did not. In the early stage of growth, the film was highly strained in a tetragonal structure (c/a = 1.04) with the longer axis parallel to the surface normal direction. As the growth proceeded further, it relaxed to a cubic structure with the lattice parameter near the bulk value, and the mosaic distribution improved significantly in both in- and out-of-plane directions. The thinner film (∼25 nm) showed only one domain limited mainly by the film thickness, but the thicker film (∼134 nm) exhibited three domains along the surface normal direction.


2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (38) ◽  
pp. 12623-12627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Ji Chen ◽  
Sheng-Ying Li ◽  
Xiao-Jun Liu ◽  
Rui-Peng Li ◽  
Detlef-M. Smilgies ◽  
...  

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