Specific Process Knowledge/Thin film deposition/Deposition of Nickel/Stress Wordentec Ni films

Stess in Wordentec deposited Nickel films

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Thin films of Ni has tensile stress. It was examined if different deposition rates result in a difference in stress in Wordentec deposited Ni films and the result is presented here.

Rate dependence

The rate was changed between the depositions. In most cases 200 nm of Ni was deposited.

The stress measurements presented in the table were performed the same day as the deposition.

Tensile stress in Wordentec deposited Ni thin films as a function of deposition rate. Click on the image to see it in higher resolution.

Deposition rate (Å/s)	Stress, average (MPa)		Film thickness (nm)	Comment
	Tesile	Compressive
15 Å/s*	1046 MPa	0 MPa	200 nm, 200 nm, 200 nm	Average calculated for three films
10 Å/s	941 MPa	0 MPa	200 nm, 200 nm	Average calculated for two films
7 Å/s	903 MPa	0 MPa	200 nm, 200 nm	Average calculated for two films
3 Å/s	725 MPa	0 MPa	110 nm, 200 nm, 200 nm	Average calculated for three films
1 Å/s*	395 MPa	5 MPa	50 nm, 190 nm	Average calculated for two films

* Before changing the deposition rates to 15 Å/s or 1 Å/s first contact responsible Danchip staff. These deposition rates are not recommended for all thicknesses and applications.

Time dependence

Further it was seen that the stress in the films decreases with time. The stress in the Ni films was measured on the same wafer at different days and for the wafers deposited with 15 Å/s the film stress decreased over time.

Tensile stress in Wordentec deposited Ni thin films measured on the same wafer with some days in between the measurements. The tensile stress was seen to decrease for the wafers deposited with 15 Å/s. Click on the image to see it in higher resolution.