GRAIN GROWTH AND RESIDUAL STRESS IN BST THIN FILMS.

Residual stress plays an important role in the determination of properties and lifetime of thin film dielectric films. While residual stress can be caused by a variety of factors, grain growth is of particular importance. Using theoretical approaches the stress due to grain growth and coalescence are predicted for magnesium doped barium strontium titanate thin films on magnesium oxide single crystal substrates. Grain growth leads to large compressive stresses for larger grains, while grain coalescence yields extremely high tensile stresses in very thin films. How stress affects defect incorporation, stress relaxation pathways, and their impact on film properties are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]