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A Non-Destructive Method For Measuring The Mechanical Properties Of Ultrathin Films Prepared By Atomic Layer Deposition, Qinglin Zhang, Xingcheng Xiao, Yang-Tse Cheng, Mark W. Verbrugge

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The mechanical properties of ultrathin films synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are critical for the liability of their coated devices. However, it has been a challenge to reliably measure critical properties of ALD films due to the influence from the substrate. In this work, we use the laser acoustic wave (LAW) technique, a non-destructive method, to measure the elastic properties of ultrathin Al₂O₃ films by ALD. The measured properties are consistent with previous work using other approaches. The LAW method can be easily applied to measure the mechanical properties of various ALD thin films for multiple …