This text provides comprehensive coverage of the major issues and topics related to stress, defect formation, and surface evolution in thin films. Physical phenomena are examined from the continuum down to the sub-microscopic length scales, with the connections between the structure of the material and its behavior described wherever appropriate. While the book develops a comprehensive scientific basis with which stress, deformation and failure in thin film materials can be characterized, an attempt is also made to link the scientific concepts to a broad range of practical applications through example problems, historical notes, case studies, and exercises.

From the Preface: “...The goal of this book is to summarize developments in the area of thin film materials that have occurred over the past few decades, with emphasis on the generation of internal stress and its consequences. Internal stress can induce a variety of undesirable consequences including excessive deformation, fracture, delamination, permanent deformation and microstructural alterations. In spite of these possibilities, thin films have been inserted into engineering systems in order to accomplish a wide range of practical service functions...It is our hope that the information included in this book will be useful as an indicator of achievements in the fields and as a guide for further advances in a number of new and emerging directions...”

Target Audience: Practicing engineers and technologists, as well as upper-level students, who are involved with thin film materials.

Table of Contents:

Introduction and Overview

Film Stress and Substrate Curvature

Stress in Anisotropic and Patterned Films

Delamination and Fracture

Film Buckling, Bulging and Peeling

Dislocation Formation in Epitaxial Systems

Dislocation Interactions and Strain Relaxation

Equilibrium and Stability of Surfaces

The Role of Stress in Mass Transport

References

Index