Abstract
A fully self-contained in-vacuum device for measuring thin film stress in situ is presented. The stress was measured by measuring the curvature of a cantilever on which the thin film was deposited. For this, a dual beam laser deflectometer was used. All optics and electronics needed to perform the measurement are placed inside a vacuum-compatible vessel with the form factor of the substrate holders of the deposition system used. The stand-alone nature of the setup allows the vessel to be moved inside a deposition system independently of optical or electronic feedthroughs while measuring continuously. A Mo/Si multilayer structure was analyzed to evaluate the performance of the setup. A radius of curvature resolution of 270 km was achieved. This allows small details of the stress development to be resolved, such as the interlayer formation between the layers and the amorphous-to-crystalline transition of the molybdenum which occurs at around 2 nm. The setup communicates with an external computer via a Wi-Fi connection. This wireless connection allows remote control over the acquisition and the live feedback of the measured stress. In principle, the vessel can act as a general metrology platform and add measurement capabilities to deposition setups with no modification to the deposition system.
Highlights
The physics of thin film deposition is an active research area with many properties remaining to be characterized
Thin film stress is directly related to the layer structure and composition, and measuring the development of stress during growth can provide information about layer growth properties such as island growth,8 compound formation,9 and crystallization
We present an optical in situ stress measurement setup capable of working in a vacuum deposition chamber where the substrate can make any type of motion
Summary
The physics of thin film deposition is an active research area with many properties remaining to be characterized. We present an optical in situ stress measurement setup capable of working in a vacuum deposition chamber where the substrate can make any type of motion. This was done by integrating all measurement optics and electronics in a vacuum compatible vessel that remains at atmospheric pressure. We discuss the vacuum and mechanical aspects, the design of the laser deflectometer, the electronics, the influences of the environment inside a deposition system, and the Wi-Fi communication implemented This is followed by several demonstration stress measurements performed using the setup. 053904-2 Reinink, van de Kruijs, and Bijkerk a deposition system, such as a Faraday cup, a Langmuir probe, or a quartz mass balance
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