Mechanistic Studies of Film Growth of Zirconium Bis(phosphonate) Mono- and Multilayer Thin Films. These Things Grow Darned Flat!

Houston Byrd; Jonathan L. Snover; Mark E. Thompson

doi:10.1021/la00011a044

Texture in Ti/Al and Nb/Al multilayer thin films: Role of Cu

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.2001.0202 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 1449-1459 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

G. Lucadamo ◽

K. Barmak ◽

K. P. Rodbell

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Film Growth ◽

Fiber Texture ◽

Fiber Axis ◽

Multilayer Thin Films ◽

Bilayer Thickness ◽

X Ray ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Pole Figures

Fiber texture in Ti/Al and Nb/Al polycrystalline multilayer thin films, with bilayer thicknesses (Λ) ranging from 20–333 nm and having a fixed stoichiometry of 1/3, has been investigated by using x-ray pole figures and transmission electron microscopy. Two sets of films were deposited; one set contained pure Al and the other Al–1.0 wt% Cu. The results indicated that texture was strengthened by the formation of a coherent superlattice for the Nb/pure-Al film with the smallest bilayer thickness. By contrast, the texture in Ti/pure-Al films with a similar period was not as strong. The texture also decreased with increasing Λ for both the Ti/pure-Al and Nb/pure-Al films. An increase in the width of the Al (111) peak and an offset of the fiber axis from the substrate normal of 5–8° was observed in the Λ = 333 nm films prepared by using Al–1.0 wt% Cu. The decrease in texture on addition of Cu to Al was attributed primarily to an increase in interlayer roughness as a consequence of reduction in the Al(Cu) grain size. These observations were interpreted in the context of structure zone and dynamic roughness models of film growth.

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Microstructural characterization of YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films formed by metalorganic CVD

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100089718 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 1080-1081

Author(s):

P. Lu ◽

W. Huang ◽

C.S. Chern ◽

Y.Q. Li ◽

J. Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Critical Current Density ◽

Critical Current ◽

Current Density ◽

Film Growth ◽

Chemical Vapor ◽

Microstructural Characterization ◽

Ion Milling ◽

Conventional Grinding

The YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films formed by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) have been reported to have excellent superconducting properties including a sharp zero resistance transition temperature (Tc) of 89 K and a high critical current density of 2.3x106 A/cm2 or higher. The origin of the high critical current in the thin film compared to bulk materials is attributed to its structural properties such as orientation, grain boundaries and defects on the scale of the coherent length. In this report, we present microstructural aspects of the thin films deposited on the (100) LaAlO3 substrate, which process the highest critical current density.Details of the thin film growth process have been reported elsewhere. The thin films were examined in both planar and cross-section view by electron microscopy. TEM sample preparation was carried out using conventional grinding, dimpling and ion milling techniques. Special care was taken to avoid exposure of the thin films to water during the preparation processes.

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Characterization of reactive phase formation in sputter-deposited Ni/Al multilayer thin films using TEM

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100167469 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 1000-1001

Author(s):

G. Lucadamo ◽

K. Barmak ◽

C. Michaelsen

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Phase Formation ◽

Dark Field ◽

Nickel Layer ◽

Multilayer Thin Films ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Dark Field Imaging ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Sputter Deposited ◽

Constant Heating

The subject of reactive phase formation in multilayer thin films of varying periodicity has stimulated much research over the past few years. Recent studies have sought to understand the reactions that occur during the annealing of Ni/Al multilayers. Dark field imaging from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies in conjunction with in situ x-ray diffraction measurements, and calorimetry experiments (isothermal and constant heating rate), have yielded new insights into the sequence of phases that occur during annealing and the evolution of their microstructure.In this paper we report on reactive phase formation in sputter-deposited lNi:3Al multilayer thin films with a periodicity A (the combined thickness of an aluminum and nickel layer) from 2.5 to 320 nm. A cross-sectional TEM micrograph of an as-deposited film with a periodicity of 10 nm is shown in figure 1. This image shows diffraction contrast from the Ni grains and occasionally from the Al grains in their respective layers.

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The use of transmission and analytical electron microscopy in studying reactions and phase transformations in thin film

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100150046 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 842-843

Author(s):

K. Barmak

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Phase Transformations ◽

Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Multilayer Thin Films ◽

Absolute Concentration ◽

Analytical Electron ◽

Deposition Step

Generally, processing of thin films involves several annealing steps in addition to the deposition step. During the annealing steps, diffusion, transformations and reactions take place. In this paper, examples of the use of TEM and AEM for ex situ and in situ studies of reactions and phase transformations in thin films will be presented.The ex situ studies were carried out on Nb/Al multilayer thin films annealed to different stages of reaction. Figure 1 shows a multilayer with dNb = 383 and dAl = 117 nm annealed at 750°C for 4 hours. As can be seen in the micrograph, there are four phases, Nb/Nb3-xAl/Nb2-xAl/NbAl3, present in the film at this stage of the reaction. The composition of each of the four regions marked 1-4 was obtained by EDX analysis. The absolute concentration in each region could not be determined due to the lack of thickness and geometry parameters that were required to make the necessary absorption and fluorescence corrections.

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TEM studies of solid-state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100167561 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 1020-1021

Author(s):

F. Ma ◽

S. Vivekanand ◽

K. Barmak ◽

C. Michaelsen

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solid State ◽

Stoichiometric Composition ◽

Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽

Grain Structure ◽

Solid State Reactions ◽

Multilayer Thin Films ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

X Ray ◽

Sputter Deposited

Solid state reactions in sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films have been studied by transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM/AEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Nb/Al multilayer thin films for TEM studies were sputter-deposited on (1102)sapphire substrates. The periodicity of the films is in the range 10-500 nm. The overall composition of the films are 1/3, 2/1, and 3/1 Nb/Al, corresponding to the stoichiometric composition of the three intermetallic phases in this system.Figure 1 is a TEM micrograph of an as-deposited film with periodicity A = dA1 + dNb = 72 nm, where d's are layer thicknesses. The polycrystalline nature of the Al and Nb layers with their columnar grain structure is evident in the figure. Both Nb and Al layers exhibit crystallographic texture, with the electron diffraction pattern for this film showing stronger diffraction spots in the direction normal to the multilayer. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all films are dominated by the Al(l 11) and Nb(l 10) peaks and show a merging of these two peaks with decreasing periodicity.

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Progressive Debonding of Multilayer Interconnect Structures

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-473-21 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 473 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Michael Lane ◽

Robert Ware ◽

Steven Voss ◽

Qing Ma ◽

Harry Fujimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Crack Growth ◽

Driving Force ◽

Adhesion Energy ◽

Time Dependent ◽

Multilayer Thin Films ◽

Processing Conditions ◽

Interface Morphology ◽

Entire Sample ◽

Crack Growth Velocity

ABSTRACTProgressive (or time dependent) debonding of interfaces poses serious problems in interconnect structures involving multilayer thin films stacks. The existence of such subcriticai debonding associated with environmentally assisted crack-growth processes is examined for a TiN/SiO2 interface commonly encountered in interconnect structures. The rate of debond extension is found to be sensitive to the mechanical driving force as well as the interface morphology, chemistry, and yielding of adjacent ductile layers. In order to investigate the effect of interconnect structure, particularly the effect of an adjacent ductile Al-Cu layer, on subcriticai debonding along the TiN/SiO2 interface, a set of samples was prepared with Al-Cu layer thicknesses varying from 0.2–4.0 μm. All other processing conditions remained the same over the entire sample run. Results showed that for a given crack growth velocity, the debond driving force scaled with Al-Cu layer thickness. Normalizing the data by the critical adhesion energy allowed a universal subcriticai debond rate curve to be derived.

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Quantitative Image Analysis of Fractal-like Thin Films of Organic Semiconductors

10.26434/chemrxiv.6223610.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Weikun Zhu ◽

Erfan Mohammadi ◽

Ying Diao

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Image Analysis ◽

Fractal Dimension ◽

Organic Semiconductors ◽

Film Growth ◽

Electronic Device ◽

Significant Control ◽

Semiconductor Thin Films ◽

Two Parameters

Morphology modulation offers significant control over organic electronic device performance. However, morphology quantification has been rarely carried out via image analysis. In this work, we designed a MATLAB program to evaluate two key parameters describing morphology of small molecule semiconductor thin films: fractal dimension and film coverage. We then employ this program in a case study of meniscus-guided coating of 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C<sub>8</sub>-BTBT) under various conditions to analyze a diverse and complex morphology set. The evolution of morphology in terms of fractal dimension and film coverage was studied as a function of coating speed. We discovered that combined fractal dimension and film coverage can quantitatively capture the key characteristics of C<sub>8</sub>-BTBT thin film morphology; change of these two parameters further inform morphology transition. Furthermore, fractal dimension could potentially shed light on thin film growth mechanisms.

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