Skip to main content

Evaluation of residual stress of thin films by GI-XRD and the multiple hkl method

AppNote B-XRD3005: Evaluation of residual stress of thin films by GI-XRD and the multiple hkl method

Background

Residual stress of thin films has been reported as a cause of cracks and partial expansion of these films, as well as peeling of the films and/or deformation of the substrate, depending on the adhesion strength between the thin film and the substrate. Residual stress X-ray diffraction is one of the methods for evaluating residual stress with high accuracy. The method is, however, difficult to apply to thin films because the X-rays only penetrate the sample surface to a depth of several μm ~ several tens μm, generating insufficient intensity to analyze the X-ray diffraction (XRD) profile. We herein illustrate an example where residual stress of a thin film is evaluated by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) for efficiently creating the XRD profile by the multiple hkl method, which uses different Miller indices.

XRD products from Rigaku

Advanced state-of-the-art high-resolution XRD system powered by Guidance expert system software

Highly versatile multipurpose X-ray diffractometer with built-in intelligent guidance

New 6th-generation general purpose benchtop XRD system for phase i.d and phase quantification

Compact X-ray diffractometer for quality control of materials that is easy to use and is ideal for routine work

Laboratory micro-spot XRD residual stress analysis with both iso- and side-inclination methods

Windows®-based software suite for Rigaku's X-ray diffractometers

high energy resolution pixel detector capable of 0, 1, and 2D measurements

2D X-ray detector with latest semiconductor technology designed for home lab diffractometers