SINOPSIS

Application of an in situ stress measurement technique in thin films is the purpose of this paper. This technique, based on the cantilever method, allows to avoid the low thermal stress contribution to the measured stress and thus to follow the evolution of intrinsic stress with film thickness. Experimental investigations have been carried out on chromium films deposited by magnetron sputtering. The influence of substrate nature on stress for three different argon pressures is presented. Stress evolution as a function of deposited thickness is different according to the gas pressure and to the substrate nature. Nevertheless, for a given pressure, the evolution of intrinsic stress along the film thickness presents the same profile for the two studied substrates : one conclude that stress magnitude mainly depends on substrate roughness.