Stresses in Thin Films

While any subject associated with films evokes immediate thoughts about solid-state devices, there are other much more mature areas where it is important, such as coatings, and yet work on this entire subject is only in its infancy. Residual stresses are not only important because of their well-known effect on corrosion and mechanical properties, they can also lead to other severe problems. For example, it is now believed that stress gradients can lead to void formation and subsequent failure in metallization in electronic devices. Thus, it is not only the level of stress that can be important, but gradients across a surface of a thin stripe, or through the thickness.