| Shadow moire interferometry was used to measure the in-plane stress distribution in silicon dioxide radio frequency (R.F.) sputtered films deposited on 100 mm diameter (100) p-type silicon wafers. Spatial resolution, material anisotropy, interpolation techniques, film thickness, film density, primary and secondary causes of stress were investigated in this thesis. A model relating the film stresses to thermal lattice mismatch between the film and the substrate suggests that the film-substrate system can experience temperatures of 500C during room temperature R.F. sputtering. Anisotropy modifies the results by only {dollar}pm{dollar}3%. Nanoindentation was used to determine the modulus of the thin films. Ellipsometry was used to determine the as-sputtered oxide film thickness and density across the wafer. Optical laser scanning was used to obtain bow of the wafers. The films were found to have an insignificant effect on the residual stresses within the Si substrate.; The spatial variation of the stresses was determined as a function of position on the wafers. Stresses range from 0 to {dollar}-{dollar}30 GPa and are a strong function of thickness. The spatial variation and average value of the stresses decrease with increasing film thickness. Film stress maps of the entire wafer show many regions of high stress around the edges. Film stresses are more uniform in the center region than close to the edges. The results of the 30 wafers tested show that not only the average stress but also the stress gradients, maximum, and minimum values of stresses should be considered in the evaluation of oxide film stresses. |
