A CONTINUOUS ELECTRICAL-RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENT IN THIN-FILMS

The continuous electrical resistivity measurement, while an interestin g parameter is being changed, can be a useful tool for in-situ thin fi lm analysis as most changes in films are accompanied by changes in the electrical resistivity. In-situ measurements in a tube furnace at atm ospheric pressure during different heat treatments are presented for o xidation tracing in Cr films and the TiN/CrN multilayer and for detect ion of interactions in Ni/Si, Ti/Si and Ni/Al multilayers. Results of electrical resistivity measurements can be correlated well with weight gain measurements, X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spect roscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling. It is therefo re shown that the measurement of the resistivity with its time and tem perature derivatives can represent a useful basis for the application of other analytical methods.