Internal stresses in nickel films prepared by ion beam and vapor deposition

The effect of the ion beam irradiation on the internal stresses in nickel films prepared by ion beam and vapor deposition (IVD) method was studied. The nickel films were prepared on the silicon (100) wafers by evaporation of nickel and simultaneous irradiation with inert gas ions, such as neon, argon, krypton and xenon. The energy of inert gas ion bombardment was changed in the range of 0.5-10.0 keV. The transport ratios of vapor atoms to inert gas ions, atoms/ions, to the substrate were kept at 15. The internal stresses in nickel films were determined by measuring the change in the substrate curvature after deposition. The results show that the internal stresses in the films depend on the ion beam energy and the ion species. In addition, the correlation between the crystal structures and the internal stresses was also investigated. The internal stresses depend on the crystallinity and the preferred orientation.