STRESS AND STRAIN IN THE VACUUM-DEPOSITED THIN-FILMS

Thin films deposited by physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor depo sition or electrodeposition processes all have a residual stress in th e film which may be manifested by cracking or peeling of the film or b y bending of a thin film substrate or can induce shifts in bandgap of semiconductors, transition temperatures for superconducting films or e xpected magnetic anisotropy. Paper presents a short survey concerning the stress and strain kinetics in thin film starting from the definiti ons and covering most interesting recent experimental facts as well as theoretical models describing ion induced processes that define stres s sign and level. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.