Internal stress in thin films prepared by ion beam and vapor deposition

Abstract

Abstract The effect of ion beam irradiation on the internal stress in thin films prepared by ion beam and vapor deposition (IVD) was studied. The thin films were prepared by the evaporation of nickel or silicon metals and simultaneous irradiation on Si(100) substrates by argon ion beams. The energies of the argon ions were changed in the range 0.5–10.0 keV, while the transport ratio of vapor atoms to ions was changed from 5 to 15. The internal stresses in the thin films were measured by the displacements of the substrates after deposition, and the results show that the internal stress changed from compressive to tensile with increasing ion beam energy. In addition, the control of the internal stresses in multilayer films prepared by IVD was investigated. It was found that it is possible to control the internal stress in a multilayer film by a suitable combination of the layers.