State-of-the-Art of Thermo-Mechanical Characterization of Thin Polymer Films

In microelectronic industry, thin polymer layers are one of the more commonly used product constituents. Examples are glue layers, coatings, and dielectric layers. The thicknesses of these films vary from a few tens of nanometers to over a hundred micrometers. Since at film thicknesses below 100 nm the thermal and mechanical properties start to deviate from those in the bulk, adequate characterization techniques are required. In the present paper we will report the results of an extensive literature search on the state-of-the-art of thermo-mechanical thin film characterization methods, such as the substrate curvature test, nanoindentation technique, bulge test, and impulsive simulated thermal scattering.