About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Vacancy Engineering in Metals and Alloys
|
| Presentation Title |
Can Excess Vacancy Annihilation Explain the Post-Deposition Evolution of Stress in Nb and Nb-Ti/Zr Sputtered Films? |
| Author(s) |
Rayna Mehta, Jackson Goedjen, Rohit Berlia, Timothy P. Weihs |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Rayna Mehta |
| Abstract Scope |
Magnetron sputtering has emerged as a popular fabrication method for combinatorial multi-principle element alloy studies, especially for refractory alloys with high melting temperatures. However, limited work has evaluated the stress behavior of sputtered refractory films after deposition concludes, which can influence a film's resistance to deformation, oxidation, and corrosion. Stress measurements on 2um Nb and Nb/Ti-Zr multilayer films display Type II stress behavior, experiencing a shift towards tension after deposition concludes. Annihilation of the excess vacancies at vertical grain and columnar interfaces likely leads to this shift. We modify an earlier vacancy annihilation model to explain the evolution of stress measured by wafer curvature and the evolution of the out-of-plane lattice parameter measured by X-ray diffraction, both post deposition. Understanding this evolution of stress can inform combinatorial studies of film properties that are impacted by stress and therefore may vary with time. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |