Fundamental Understanding of Residual Stress in Binary and Ternary Nitride Thin Films: Measurements and Modeling

非技术描述：氮化物薄膜广泛应用于保护工具涂层和微电子互连等应用。然而，沉积的薄膜通常有大量的残余应力，这可能会降低其性能或导致失效。为了控制和预测应力，需要对薄膜沉积条件和产生的应力之间的关系有更基本的了解。这种理解是通过进行全面的测量并利用它们来开发一个可以预测不同条件下应力的模型来实现的。这为选择加工参数提供了一种科学的方法，而不是反复试验。与他人分享该模型可以通过提供分析和优化其生长过程的工具来影响广泛的薄膜用户社区。通过本项目培训的学生将对薄膜生长的动力学过程有深刻的理解，这在汽车零部件和半导体加工等行业是有价值的。技术细节：氮化薄膜中应力的研究将测量与定量模型的开发结合起来。在薄膜沉积过程中使用光学技术进行实时测量。系统地改变不同的处理参数（生长速度、压力、氮流量），以便生成一套全面的数据。对不同成分的二元氮化物（含单一过渡金属的氮化物）和三元氮化物（含两种过渡金属的氮化物）进行了测量。这些数据被用来建立一套基于潜在动力学机制的速率方程，可以计算不同加工条件下的应力。将模型方程应用到实验中，可以为每种材料提取一组动力学参数。这对于解释数据和理解控制应力的过程很重要。它还改变了通过预测能产生所需应力的参数来选择加工条件的方法。该模型的一个用户友好的基于网络的版本可以被其他人用来分析他们自己的结果，并根据他们的需要选择最佳的处理条件。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Nitride thin films are widely used in applications such as protective tool coatings and microelectronic interconnects. However, the deposited films often have large amounts of residual stress that can reduce their performance or lead to failure. A more fundamental understanding of the connection between the film deposition conditions and the resulting stress is needed in order to control and predict the stress. This understanding is achieved by performing comprehensive measurements and using them to develop a model that can predict the stress under different conditions. This provides a science-based method to choose the processing parameters instead of trial-and-error. Sharing this model with others impacts the broad community of thin film users by providing a tool to analyze and optimize their growth processes. The students who are trained on this project develop a deep understanding of the kinetic processes controlling thin film growth that are valuable in industries such as automotive components and semiconductor processing. TECHNICAL DETAILS: The research on stress in nitride thin films integrates measurements with the development of a quantitative model. The measurements are performed in real-time during the deposition of the films using an optical technique. The different processing parameters (growth rate, pressure, nitrogen flow rate) are systematically varied so that a comprehensive set of data is generated. The measurements are done on both binary nitrides (nitride with a single transition metal species) and ternary nitrides (nitride with two transition metal species) with different compositions. The data is used to develop a set of rate equations based on the underlying kinetic mechanisms that can calculate the stress for different processing conditions. Applying the model equations to the experiments allows a set of kinetic parameters to be extracted for each material. This is important for interpreting the data and understanding the processes controlling the stress. It also transforms the method of choosing processing conditions by predicting parameters that can produce the desired stress. A user-friendly web-based version of the model can be used by others to analyze their own results and select the best processing conditions for their needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.