Reversible stress changes at all stages of Volmer-Weber film growth

Reversible stress changes observed during interruptions of Volume-Weber growth of thin films are phenomenologically similar in the pre-coalescence and post-coalescence growth regimes. The stress reversibly relaxes in the tensile direction in both regimes, and the magnitude of the reversible stress change increases with increasing pre-interruption deposition rates in both regimes. In addition, the initial rate of stress change during a growth interruption is slower than the initial rate stress change when growth is resumed. This paper demonstrates that high-sensitivity stress measurement with high temporal resolution provides a powerful tool for probing dynamic atomic processes during film growth.