Correlation of shape changes of grain surfaces and reversible stress evolution during interruptions of polycrystalline film growth

Short interruptions of the growth of polycrystalline films often lead to stress evolution that is reversed when growth is resumed. Correlated in situ stress measurements and ex situ transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy characterizations of grain boundary surface grooves as a function of the interruption time are reported for films deposited at different temperatures and held for different times before quenching to room temperature. These studies suggest that during film deposition surface grooves at grain boundaries are kinetically constrained to be shallow, while during a growth interruption surface diffusion allows grain boundary grooves to deepen and approach their equilibrium depth. The latter relieves a component of the compressive stress associated with trapped atoms in the grain boundaries. When growth is resumed, the non-equilibrium surface morphology is reestablished and the compressive stress increases to its pre-interruption value.