Measure and provide feedback for curvature, stress, reflectivity and growth rate to improve production processes and increase profitability with the kSA MOS.
Understanding and controlling stress in thin-film and thermal annealing processes is critical for achieving the desired optical, electronic, and mechanical properties. Many of today’s high performance devices rely on or must be designed with “built-in” stress within the individual layers for tailoring specific characteristics. However, unwanted changes in thin-film stress can be introduced at any stage of the fabrication process and may lead to a reduction in device performance as well as delamination or cracking of deposited films.
Traditional ex situ stress/strain measurement methods such as XRD or surface profiling only measure the overall stress after the process is done, but completely miss the dynamic changes in thin-film stress occurring during the process. Being able to measure the stress/strain in situ, during the process gives important insight into mechanisms and methods for controlling and targeting the overall stress induced into the sample during every step.
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Real-Time Thin-Film Curvature and Stress in Two Directions Simultaneously
In response to a need for in situ stress monitoring, kSA co-developed and patented a new, real-time stress/strain monitoring technique with Sandia National Laboratory over 15 years ago. The k-Space Multi-beam Optical Sensor (kSA MOS) uses an etalon, with highly reflective dielectric coatings on each side, that is placed at an angle to a single solid state laser beam. The incidence angle of the laser leads to multiple internal reflections within the etalon, which generates a linear array of parallel beams. These beams also pass through a second rotated etalon to produce a 2-dimensional array of beams for simultaneous 2D measurements in both x and y planes. The number and spacing of these beams can be controlled by the rotation angle of each etalon. The low power (Class 1) array of parallel beams is then reflected from the sample surface and directly imaged with a high resolution camera. During thin-film or thermal stress, the sample being imaged with the kSA MOS laser array will undergo convex or concave changes in curvature which translate into the laser spots getting farther apart (convex) or closer (concave) relative to each other on the camera. By using this wafer curvature measurement and the known geometry and material properties of the substrate and film, real-time stress is determined directly via Stoney’s equation.
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In Situ Measurement
The kSA MOS optics are mounted directly to the vacuum or process chamber viewport and contain laser-beam array optics and camera optics with patented automatic steering mirror to ensure the laser array stays directly on the camera center. Chamber integration can be with single port (normal incidence) or dual port (specular viewports) and provides several benefits for in situ thin-film stress measurement. The kSA MOS optics are simple and stationary, requiring only minimal alignment and calibration during initial setup. Simultaneous detection and spot spacing analysis of the array makes the measurement inherently less sensitive to sample vibration compared with scanning, single beam systems. Since all the kSA MOS laser spots move together at the same frequency, sample shift or tilt is not detected as a change of curvature. Through the use of simple image processing and rapid data analysis algorithms, kSA MOS technology can easily detect micron-size changes in spot position on the camera. This translates to radius of curvature resolution in the 20-50km range; powerful enough to detect the stress induced by a single monolayer of material deposited on the substrate surface. By monitoring the entire array of beams, two-dimensional, dynamic wafer and thin-film curvature and stress profiles can be obtained with enough speed necessary for real-time measurement and process control.
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Applications
The kSA MOS thin-film measurement tool is currently being used for in situ stress monitoring and control at leading R&D and full production facilities worldwide. Applications include metal film sputtering, high performance dielectric and filter coatings (PVD), glass panel processing, 300mm semiconductor IC processing, thin-film battery research, epitaxial layer growth during MBE and MOCVD, and thermal stress monitoring during annealing. Don’t wait until it’s too late – control your thin-film or thermal stress in real time with kSA MOS!
References
View All ReferencesChemo-Mechanics of Functional Thin Films for Lithium-ion Batteries and Neuromorphic Computing Devices
Yuwei Zhang
Morpholical Effect on High Compaction Density Nickel-rich Layered Oxide Cathodes During Electrochemical Lithiation and Delithiation
Min Hou, Yiyang Hu, Meng Zhang, Dafu Chen, Hui Cao, Zhenbo Wang
Bending Good Beats Breaking Bad: Phase Separation Patterns in Individual Cathode Particles Upon Lithiation and Delithiation
David A. Santos, Justin L. Andrews, Yang Bai, Peter Stein, Yuting Luo, Yuwei Zhang, Matt Pharr, Bai-Xiang Xu, and Sarbajit Banerjee
AlInAsSb Avalanche Photodiodes on InP Substrates
Kodati, S. H.; Lee, S.; Guo, B.; Jones, A. H.; Schwartz, M.; Winslow, M.; Pfiester, N. A.; Grein, C. H.; Ronningen, T. J.; Campbell, J. C.; Krishna, S.
The Microstructural and Stress Evolution in Sputter Deposited Ni Thin Films
Thomas Koenig, Zhaoxia Rao, Eric Chason, Garritt J. Tucker, Gregory B. Thompson
Electrocatalytic Activity of Nanostructured Nickel Thin Film Electrodes During Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions
Adeline Delvaux
Measurement of Volume Changes and Associated Stresses in Ge Electrodes Due to Na/Na+ Redox Reactions
Subhajit Rakshit, Akshay S. Pakhare, Olivia Ruiz, M. Reza Khoshi, Eric Detsi, Huixin He, Vijay A. Sethuraman and Siva P. V. Nadimpalli
Mechanical and Electrochemical Stability Improvement of SiC-Reinforced Silicon-Based Composite Anode for Li-Ion Batteries
Mohammad Furquan, Manoj K. Jangid, Anish Raj Khatribail, Savithri Vijayalakshmi, Amartya Mukhopadhyay, and Sagar Mitra
In Situ and Real-Time Nanoscale Monitoring of Ultra-Thin Metal Film Growth Using Optical and Electrical Diagnostic Tools
Jonathan Colin, Andreas Jamnig, Clarisse Furgeaud, Anny Michel, Nikolaos Pliatsikas, Kostas Sarakinos , and Gregory Abadias
Stress-Free Titantium-based Thin Films for Inner Ear Microphones
Dina Ehsan
Seeing is Believing: In Situ/Operando Optical Microscopy for Probing Electrochemical Energy Systems
Binbin Chen, Hao Zhang, Jin Xuan, Gregory J. Offer, and Huizhi Wang
Stress and Microstructure Evolution in Mo Thin Films Without or With cover Layers During Thermal-Cycling
Eunmi Park, Marietta Seifert, Gayatri K. Rane, Siegfried B. Menzel, Thomas Gemming and Kornelius Nielsch
Stress Bearing Mechanisms of reduced Graphene Oxide in Silicon Based Composite Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries
Mahmud TOKUR, Mok Yun Jin, Brian W. Sheldon, and Hatem Akbulut
Stress Buildup Upon Crystallization of GeTe Thin Films: Curvature Measurements and Modelling
Rajkiran Tholapi, Manon Gallard, Nelly Burle, Christophe Guichet,
Stephanie Escoubas, Magali Putero, Cristian Mocuta, Marie-Ingrid Richard,
Rebecca Chahine, Chiara Sabbione, Mathieu Bernard, Leila Fellouh, Pierre Noé and Olivier Thomas
In-situ stress evolution and its correlation with structural characteristics of GaN buffer grown on Si substrate using AlGaN/AlN/GaN stress mitigation layers for high electron mobility transistor applications
R. Lingaparthi, N. Dharmarasu, K. Radhakrishnan, M. Agrawala
Dislocation Plasticity and Detwinning Under Thermal Stresses in Nanotwinned Ag Thin Films
Maya K. Kini, Claudia Merola, Benjamin Breitbach, Dennis Klapproth, Bastian Philippi, Jean-Baptiste Molin, Christoph Kirchlechner, Gherard Dehm.
Effect of Substrate Transfer on Performance of Vertically Stacked Ultrathin MOS Devices
Pavani Vamsi Krishna Nittala, Krutikesh Sahoo, Navakanta Bhat, K.N. Bhat, Prosenjit Sen
Six-Junction III-V Solar Cells With 47.1% Conversion Efficiency Under 143 Suns Concentration
John F. Geisz, Ryan M. France, Kevin L. Schulte, Myles A. Steiner, Andrew G. Norman, Harvey L. Guthrey, Matthew R. Young, Tao Song, and Thomas Moriarty
Development of Residual Stress and Uniaxial Magnetic Anisotropy During Growth of Polycrystalline co Film
Arun Singh Dev, Dileep Kumar, Pooja Gupta, Pramod Vishwakarma, Ajay Gupta
The effect of kinetics on intrinsic stress generation and evolution in sputter-deposited films at conditions of high atomic mobility
A. Jamnig, N. Pliatsikas, K. Sarakinos, and G. Abadias
Interfacial Silicide Formation and Stress Evolution During Sputter Deposition of Ultrathin Pd Layers on a-Si
Bärbel Krause, Gregory Abadias, Clarisse Furgeaud, Anny Michel, Andrea Resta, Alessandro Coati, Yves Garreau, Alina Vlad, Dirk Hauschild, Tilo Baumbach
An In Situ System for Simultaneous Stress Measurement and Optical Observation of Silicon Thin Film Electrodes
Jian Chen, Le Yang, Yu Han, Yin-Hua Bao, Kai-Lun Zhang, Xiang Li, Jing Pang, Hao-Sen Chen, Wei-Li Song,Yu-Jie Wei, Dai-Ning Fang
Real-Time Monitoring of Stress Development During Electrochemical Cycling of Electrode Materials for Li-Ion Batteries: Overview and Perspectives
Manoj K. Jangid and Amartya Mukhopadhyay
Development of Residual Stress and Uniaxial Magnetic Anisotropy During Growth of Polycrystalline Co Filmx
Arun Singh Dev, Dileep Kumar, Pooja Gupta, Pramod Vishwakarma, Ajay Gupta
On the Determination of Alloy Composition Using Optical Spectroscopy in MOVPE Grown InGaN Layers on Si(111)
Vikash K. Singh, Payal Taya, Dipankar Jana, RenuTyagi, S. Raghavan, T. K. Sharmac
Direct Observation of the Thickness-Induced Crystallization and Stress Build-Up During Sputter-Deposition of Nanoscale Silicide Films
Bärbel Krause, Gregory Abadias, Anny Michel, Peter Wochner, Shyjumon Ibrahimkutty, and Tilo Baumbach
Chemo-Mechanical Degradation in V2O5 Thin Film Cathodes of Li-ion Batteries During Electrochemical Cycling
Yuwei Zhang, Yuting Luo, Cole Fincher, Sarbajit Banerjee, Matt Pharr
Atomic-Scale Diffusion Rates During Growth of Thin Metal films on Weakly-Interacting Substrates
A. Jamnig, D. G. Sangiovanni, G. Abadias & K. Sarakinos
Tuning High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering Discharge and Substrate Bias Conditions to Reduce the Intrinsic Stress of TiN Thin Films
Felipe Cemin, Gregory Abadias, Tiberiu Minea, Daniel Lundin
Stress-charge coupling coefficient for thin-film polypyrrole actuators – Investigation of capacitive ion exchange in the oxidized state
Benedikt Roschning, Jörg Weissmüller
In-Operando Imaging of Polysulfide Catholytes for Li–S Batteries and Implications for Kinetics and Mechanical Stability
Yuwei Zhang, Coleman Fincher, Scott McProuty, Matt Pharr
Enhanced Properties of Tungsten Films by High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering
A.M.Engwall, S.J.Shin, J.Bae, Y.M.Wang
GaN Heteroepitaxy on Strain-Engineered (111) Si/Si1−xGex
Anushka Bansal, Nathan C. Martin, Ke Wang, Joan M. Redwing
Long Range, Non-Destructive Characterization of GaN Substrates for Power Devices
J.C. Gallagher, T.J. Anderson, L.E. Luna, A.D. Koehler, J.K. Hite, N.A. Mahadik, K.D. Hobart, F.J. Kub
The Influence of Alloying Interactions On Thin Film Growth Stresses
XuyangZhou, Gregory B.Thompson
Fabrication and Characterization of SU-8-Based Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer for Airborne Applications
Jose Joseph, Shiv Govind Singhm, Siva Rama Krishna Vanjari
Dislocation Bending and Stress Evolution in Mg-Doped GaN Films on Si Substrates
Rohith Soman, Nagaboopathy Mohan, Hareesh Chandrasekar, Navakanta Bhat, and Srinivasan Raghavan
Stresses in Thin Films: an Experimental Study
N. Sharma, M. Hooda, S. K. Sharma
Tailoring Structural and Energy-Related Properties of Thin Films Using HiPIMS
Felipe Cemin
Mechanics of Electrodes in High Capactiy Lithium-Ion Batteries
Garrett Ransford Hardin
Qualification of Silicon Based Oxide and Nitride Films for Metal-Insulator-Metal Capacitors
N. Sharma, M. Hooda, and S. K. Sharma
In-situ measurements of stress evolution in composite sulfur cathodes
Yuwei Zhang, Yuting Luo, Coleman Fincher, Scott McProuty, Garrett Swenson, Sarbajit Banerjee, Matt Pharr
The Influence of Deposition Parameters on the Stress Evolution of Sputter Deposited Copper
Tyler Kaub, Zhaoxia Rao, Eric Chason, Gregory B. Thompson
Fabrication of Micro-Nano-Mechanical Structures For Sensing Application
N Sharma, M Hooda, S K Sharma
In Situ Monitoring of Stress Change in GeTe Thin Films During Thermal Annealing and Crystallization
B. Ben Yahia, M.S. Amara, M. Gallard, N. Burle, S. Escoubas, C. Guichet, M. Putero, C. Mocuta, M.-I. Richard, R. Chahine, C. Sabbione, M. Bernard, L. Fellouh, P. Noé, O. Thomas
The Influence of Alloying Interactions on Thin Film Growth Stresses
X. Zhou, G.B. Thompson
The Role of Surface Roughness on Dislocation Bending and Stress Evolution in Low Mobility AlGaN Films During Growth
Abheek Bardhan, Nagaboopathy Mohan, Hareesh Chandrasekar, Priyadarshini Ghosh, D.V.Sridhara Rao and Srinivasan Raghavan
In Situ Measurement of the Effect of Stress on the Chemical Diffusion Coefficient of Li in High-Energy-Density Electrodes
Rajasekhar Tripuraneni, Subhajit Rakshit, and Siva P. V. Nadimpalli
Real-Time Stress Measurement in SiO2 Thin Films During Electrochemical Lithiation/Delithiation Cycling
Rakshit, S., Tripuraneni, R. & Nadimpalli
Impact of Ge Alloying on the Early Growth Stages, Microstructure and Stress Evolution of Sputter-Deposited Cu-Ge Thin Films
C.Furgeaud, L.Simonot, A.Michel, C.Mastail, G.Abadias
Evolution of In Situ Growth Stresses and Interfacial Structure in Phase Changing Cu/V Multilayered Thin Films
Qianying Guo, Gregory B.Thompson
Stress in Thin Films and Coatings: Current Status, Challenges, and Prospects
Grégory Abadias, Eric Chason, Jozef Keckes, Marco Sebastiani, Gregory B. Thompson, Etienne Barthel, Gary L. Doll, Conal E. Murray, Chris H. Stoessel, and Ludvik Martinu
Composition, Microstructure, and Electrical Performance of Sputtered SnO Thin Films for p-Type Oxide Semiconductor
Seung Jun Lee, Younjin Jang, Han Joon Kim, Eun Suk Hwang, Seok Min Jeon, Jun Shik Kim, Taehwan Moon, Kyung-Tae Jang, Young-Chang Joo, Deok-Yong Cho, and Cheol Seong Hwang
Fracture Toughness of Mo2BC Thin Films: Intrinsic Toughness Versus System Toughening
R. Soler, S. Gleich, C. Kirchlechner, C. Scheu, J.M. Schneider, G. Dehm
Stress Generation and Evolution in Oxide Hheteroepitaxy
Aline Fluri, Daniele Pergolesi, Alexander Wokaun, and Thomas Lippert
The Effect of Water Vapor on Nanosecond Laser Damage Resistance of Optical Coatings in Vacuum
Xiulan Ling, Shenghu Liu, Xiaofeng Liu
Benefits of Energetic Ion Bombardment for Tailoring Stress and Microstructural Evolution During growth of Cu Thin Films
Felipe Cemin, Gregory Abadias, Tiberiu Minea, Clarisse Furgeaud, François Brisset, Denis Solas , Daniel Lundin
Stress Evolution in SiO Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries During Electrochemical Cycling
Jingze Zhang, Jian Zhang, Di Wang, Xiaohua Xie and Baojia Xia
An Experimental Study of Residual Stress Induced Modulation of Vibration Characteristics in 1-D MEMS Resonators
Behera, A., Dangi, A., and Pratap, R.
Electrochemical and Stress Characteristics of SiO/Cu/Expanded Graphite Composite as Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries
Jingze Zhang, Jian Zhang, Tianzeng Bao, Xiaohua Xie and Baojia Xia
Substrate-Influenced Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue of Copper Metallizations: Limits of Stoney’s Equation
Stephan Bigl , Stefan Wurster, Megan J. Cordill and Daniel Kiener
Mechanisms of Power Module Source Metal Degradation During Electro-Thermal Aging
Roberta Ruffilli, Mounira Berkani, Philippe Dupuy, Stephane Lefebvre, Yann Weber, Marc Legros
Measurements of the Phase and Stress Evolution during Initial Lithiation of Sn Electrodes
Chun-Hao Chen, Eric Chason, and Pradeep R. Guduru
Influence of HVPE Substrates on Homoepitaxy of GaN Grown by MOCVD
J.K. Hite, T.J. Anderson, L.E. Luna, J.C. Gallagher, M.A. Mastro, J.A. Freitas, C.R. Eddy Jr.
Substrate-Influenced Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue of Copper Metallizations: Limits of Stoney’s Equation
Stephan Bigl, Stefan Wurster, Megan J. Cordill and Daniel Kiener
Film Thickness Dependent Microstructural Changes of Thick Copper Metallizations Upon Thermal Fatigue
Stephan Bigl, Claus O.W. Trost, Stefan Wurster, Megan J. Cordill and Daniel Kiener
Effect of Intrinsic Stress on Structural and Optical Properties of Amorphous Si-Doped SnO2 Thin-Film
Honglong Ning, Xianzhe Liu, Hongke Zhang, Zhiqiang Fang, Wei Ca, Jianqiu Chen, Rihui Yao, Miao Xu, Lei Wang, Linfeng Lan, Junbiao Peng, Xiaofeng Wang and Zichen Zhang
In Situ Stress Observation in Oxide Films and How Tensile Stress Influences Oxygen Ion Conduction
Aline Fluri, Daniele Pergolesi, Vladimir Roddatis, Alexander Wokaun and Thomas Lippert
Volmer-Weber Growth Stages of Polycrystalline Metal Films Probed by In Situ and Real-Time Optical Diagnostics.
G. Abadias, L. Simonot, J.J. Colin, A. Michel, S. Camelio, and D. Babonneau
Porous Thick Film Lanthanum Strontium Ferrite Stress and Oxygen Surface Exchange Bilayer Curvature Relaxation Measurements
Qing Yang and Jason D. Nicholas
In Situ Measurement of CuPt Alloy Ordering Using Strain Anisotropy
Ryan M. France, William E. McMahon, Joongoo Kang, Myles A. Steiner, and John F. Geisz
In Situ Oxygen Surface Exchange Coefficient Measurements on Lanthanum Strontium Ferrite Thin Films Via the Curvature Relaxation Method
Qing Yang, Theodore E. Burye, Richard R. Lunt, and Jason D. Nicholas
In Situ Combined Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction and Wafer Curvature Measurements During Formation of Thin Palladium Silicide Film on Si(001) and Si(111)
J. Fouet, M.I. Richard, C. Mocuta, C. Guichet, O. Thomas
In Situ Stress Evolution During Growth of Transition Metal Nitride Films and Nanocomposites
G. Abadias, L.E. Koutsokeras, P.A. Patsalas, W. Leroy, D. Delpa, S.V. Zlotsi, V.V. Uglov
In Situ Measurement of Biaxial Modulus of Si Anode for Li-ion Batteries
V.A. Sethuraman, M.J. Chon, M. Shimshak, N. Van Winkle, P.R. Guduru
In Situ Measurement of the Internal Stress Evolution During Sputter Deposition of ZnO:Al
S. Michotte, J.Proost
Periodic Variation of Stress in Sputter Deposited Si/WSi2 Multilayers
Kimberly MacArthur, Bing Shi, Ray Conley and Albert T. Macrander
On the use of a Multiple Beam Optical Sensor for In Situ Curvature Monitoring in Liquids
Q. Van Overmeere, J.-F. Vanhumbeeck, and J. Proost
The NSLS-II Multilayer Laue Lens Deposition System
Ray Conley, Nathalie Bouet, James Biancarosa, Qun Shen, Larry Boas, John Feraca, Leonard Rosenbaum
Correlation of Growth Stress and Structural Evolution During Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition of GaN on (111) Si
Srinivasan Raghavan, Xiaojun Weng, Elizabeth Dickey, and Joan M. Redwing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
Growth stresses and cracking in GaN films on (111) Si grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. I. AlN buffer layers
Srinivasan Raghavan and Joan Redwing Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
Evolution of Surface Morphology and Film Stress During MOCVD Growth of InN on Sapphire Substrates
Abhishek Jain, Srinivasan Raghavan, Joan M. Redwing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
In Situ Stress Measurements During MOCVD Growth of AlGaN on SiC
Jeremy D. Acord, Srinivasan Raghavan, David W. Snyder, Joan M. Redwing, Materials Research Institute and Applied Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University
Effect of AlN Interlayers on Growth Stress in GaN Layers Deposited on (111) Si
Srinivasan Raghavan, Xiaojun Weng, Elizabeth Dickey, and Joan M. Redwing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
Real-Time Strain Evolution During Growth of InxAl1-xAs/GaAs Metamorphic Buffer Layers
C. Lynch, R. Beresford, and E. Chason, Brown University
Evolution of the Growth Stress, Stiffness, and Microstructure of Alumina Thin Films During Vapor Deposition
Joris Proost and Frans Spaepen, Harvard University
Intrinsic Stress Development in Ti-C:H Ceramic Nanocomposite Coatings
B. Shi and W. J. Meng – Louisiana State University
L. E. Rehn and P. M. Baldo – Argonne National Laboratory
Stress Evolution During Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition of GaN
S. Hearne, E. Chason, J. Han, J. A. Floro, J. Figiel, and J. Hunter, H. Amano, I. S. T. Tsong
Stress Evolution in Sputtered FCC Metal Multilayers
Vidya Ramaswamy, William D. Nix, and Bruce M. Clemens
Stress Evolution During Growth of Sputtered Ni/Cu Multilayers
Vidya Ramaswamy, Bruce M. Clemens, and William D. Nix
Stress and Defect Control in GaN Using Low Temperature Interlayers
Hiroshi Amano, Motoaki Iwaya, Takayuki Kashima, Maki Katsuragawa, Isamu Akasaki, Jung Han, Sean Hearne, Jerry A. Floro, Eric Chason and Jeffrey Figiel
Real Time Measurement of Epilayer Strain Using a Simplified Water Curvature Technique
J. A. Floro, E. Chason, and S. R. Lee
Measuring Ge Segregation by Real-Time Stress Monitoring During Si 1-xGe x Molecular Beam Epitaxy
J. A. Floro and E. Chason
