Reversible Stress Relaxation during Precoalescence Interruptions of Volmer-Weber Thin Film Growth

From in situ stress measurements, we have observed that a large component of the precoalescence compressive stress that develops during Volmer-Weber growth of polycrystalline Cu films relaxes reversibly. This phenomenon is similar to the reversible stress relaxation previously observed in the postcoalescence regime. We have also observed that less than a tenth of a monolayer of deposition leads to an instantaneous stress of order 1 GPa. The stress changes in both the precoalescence and postcoalescence regimes of growth are explained by changes in the adatom population during and after deposition.