Initiation of interface crack at free edge between thin films with weak stress singularity

Delamination tests using sandwich type specimens are conducted for eight combinations of materials: thin films formed on silicon substrates which are relatively popular in micro-electronic industry, to develop a method for quantitative evaluation and comparison of crack initiation strength at the free edge. The difficulty stems from the difference of stress singularity, K_ij/r^λ (K_ij: stress intensity, r: distance from free edge and λ: order of stress singularity), where λ is depending on the combination of materials. Thus, the critical K_ij has different dimensions, MPa m^λ, in each interface. Using the experimentally observed delamination load, the stress distribution along the interface is analyzed by boundary element method. Since the orders of stress singularity, λ, in the materials are less than 0.07 (weak singularity), the stress field near the interface edge is almost constant in atomic (nanometer) level. Then, the critical strength for the interface cracking is quantitatively represented by the concentrated stress near the edge. The effects of the several factors such as species of thin films, oxidized interlayers and deposition processes of thin films on the interface strength are evaluated on the basis of this critical stress as well.