Residual stress in sputtered gold films on quartz measured by the cantilever beam deflection technique

With resonator applications in mind, the residual stress in sputtered gold electrodes on quartz has been investigated with respect to various deposition rates (2, 10, and 50 Angstrom/s), pressures (1.0 and 3.0 . 10(-3) mbar), deposition temperatures (80 degrees C and room temperature (RT)), film thicknesses (approx. 400 to 800 Angstrom), and substrate smoothnesses (lapped and polished), using the cantilever beam deflection method. Samples were monitored for 4 weeks at room temperature followed by 13 weeks of annealing at 85 degrees C. The initial stress (ranging from -180 to -60 MPa) was compressive for all samples but turned tensile (a few megaPascals) in some of the samples after annealing. A significant decrease in initial compressive stress appeared with samples coated at an elevated temperature. From samples prepared at lower pressure and differing only in film thickness and substrate roughness, an increased compressive stress was found in thicker films and on rougher surfaces. The stress relaxation has been fitted to an exponential expression, and an attempt to relate the stress to a frequency shift (typically a few parts per million for ordinary, 100-mu m thick AT blanks) has been made. With the help of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the film morphology was investigated and related to the deposition parameters and aging. Judging from the increase in compressive stress and grain refinement with increased deposition rate and decreased pressure, the atomic peening mechanism is the most likely reason for the induced stress. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) was employed to rule out the inclusion of argon (below or around 0.5%) as an explanation. From the vague, but clearly discernible, trend toward faster RT stress relaxation with higher initial stress, together with the finer film morphology, the relief mechanism is believed to be stress-promoted grain boundary diffusion.